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BREAKFAST REPERTORY. 



WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST; 



WITH MORE THAN 



ONE HUNDRED DIFFERENT BREAKFASTS, 

AND 

FULL DIRECTIONS FOR EACH. 

BY 

M. TARBOX COLBRATH. 



: 1 " 

INTERLEAVED. 






BOSTON: 
JAMES H. EARLE, 

178 Washington Street. 
1882. 






Copyiiglit, 1882, 
By James H. Earle. 



BOSTON 

W. F. BROWN 4 COMPANY, PRINTERS 

218 FRANKLIN ST 



\^■i 



TO 



HOUSEKEEPERS. 



M. T. C. 



PREFACE. 



The ivriter sends this Breakfast Repertory on 
its mission with the earnest hope that it may aid 
housekeepers in answering that oft-repeated ques- 
tion — 

What shall we have for Breakfast? 

Every little while the good housekeeper gets 
into inextricable difficulties with this vexed ques- 
tion, and what to get for this meal seems to em- 
barrass her more than to arrange for two or three 
dinners. Knowing that this general complaint of 
breakfast difficulties exists, the writer hopes to 
succeed in producing a directory that will help 
these perplexities of the most important meal of 
the day, and suggest over one hundred practical 
breakfast bills of fare, adapted to various persons 
and circumstances. 



10 PREFACE. 



To the young housekeeper who has entered upon 
her new duties without experience ; to those whose 
breakfasts are stereotyped after one fashion, and 
of which they heartily tire, these suggestions may 
prove of service. I have endeavored to make 
ea.eh plan so phiin that a novice can work with 
certainty/ of success. 

Besides furnishnig this extensive collection of 
breakfast fares, the wriLC^' aims to convince house- 
keepers of the evil eftects of neglecting this meal ; 
also, of the benefits resulting from a warm and 
nuti'itious breakfast. 

Each breakfast I have endeavored to suggest on 
common-sense principles ; have made nourishment 
the chief aim of eating ; have avoided provoking 
the appetite beyond nature ; have ignored nothing 
but what is absolutely unfriendly to health, and 
have advised each fare in a practical manner, so 
that the stomach may not be offended. 

I have aimed to inspire a respect for made-over 
dishes, which are sometimes so convenient for this 
meal, but which are served by many housekeepers 
in such an indifferent manner that the stomach 
takes offence, but which by patience and skill can 
be made appetizing. 



PREFACE. 11 



M}^ motto will be, never to attempt too much, 
but ever bear in mind that it is not the multiplicity 
of dishes, but the excellent and life-giving* qualities 
of a breakfast that vitally concern a family ; that 
a few wholesome and well-cooked dishes are more 
satisfying, and preferable to many indifterently 
cooked. 

Only home-made food will be patronized, as it is 
of vital importance that evpry :;rticle of food in- 
troduced at the table should be pure ; and to avoid 
hurtful admixtures, a personal inspection of its 
preparation is important, else we know not what 
we eat in this age of adulteration. 

A rigid adherence to the combination of each 
fare is not urged, but to deviate as circumstances 
dictate, and from each one to contrive and invent 
for yourselves as convenience requires, yet making- 
it a matter of study to serve together dishes which 
are especially suited to each other. Be assured 
you will derive much benefit from the experience 
of combining and contriving for j^ourselves. 

To have your favorite breakfasts in memoran- 
dum is sometimes a great convenience in cases of 
absence, sickness, or otherwise. For recording 
them each division is interleaved. 



12 PREFACE. 



No directory for the morning meal has yet been 
published, so far as the writer has yet been a]>le 
to investigate, consequently she trusts this offer- 
ing will be gladly received. 



SECTION I. 



WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST, 



I. REASONS FOR A GOOD BREAKFAST. 

I OFFER the opinion of an experienced and suc- 
cessful plijsician, whose protection I shared at an 
early age, and by whom I was scrupulously re- 
stricted from early morning walks, before break- 
fast, — a custom then among juveniles, it being the 
prevailing opinion that the early morning air was 
the healthiest, most bracing, and purest. He did 
not agree with the boarding-school theory which 
prescribed long walks before breakfast as a means 
of promotino- health, — but ever arirued the con- 
trary as the ftict, — that languor and exhaustion 
were sure to follow such exercise, especially when 
taken by persons of delicate organization or those 
liable to sudden colds. Assured that many con- 
sumptions and other diseases were contracted from 
the exposure of an empty stomach to the damp 
and poisonous influence of the morning air, he 
ever counselled those whose vocation called them 



16 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

out early to first brace up the stomach with a 
warm and nourishing breakfast, for at no period 
of the day was the air more tainted than at sun- 
rise, in which it was a dangerous risk to take much 
exercise before the stomach had been fortified with 
a warm breakfast. 

Breakfast, coming after the longest fast in the 
twenty-four hours, should supply the great waste 
that goes on from supper till dinner. In this 
country this meal consists frequently of tea, coffee, 
and a small proportion of bread and butter. This 
is not enough for those who need a breakfast for 
muscular exertion or real activity. It does not 
give the strength that is needed to last until din- 
ner, and the system is sure to suffer. It only 
allays the appetite, and is insufficient for the sup- 
ply of bodily waste during the long interval 
between supper and dinner, — perhajDS a late one. 
As in pecuniary matters, when the outlay of the 
body exceeds the income, we may be sure the day 
of retribution will come, — that we shall sooner or 
later suffer. 

Those who go to their calling early should not 
only be fed with a nutritious breakfast, but should 
be served in sufficient season, that they may not 
eat hurriedly or insufficiently. Should we allow 
our cattle or horses to start out for half a day 



REASONS FOR A GOOD BREAKFAST. 17 

without being properly fed, we should stand a 
chance of hearing a remonstrance from philanthro- 
pists on " cruelty to animals." Can we work on a 
worthless breakfast more than they ? We should 
fitly feed our hungriness, for energy and morality 
have a great deal to do with what we are fed. 

A good breakfast is of vital importance to the 
temperance public. When our food sustains us 
properly, we do not have that " sinking feeling" 
which compels many to seek in the dram-shop that 
power which they ignorantly think can be obtained 
to give them the required strength to perform their 
work. We may be assured that real strength can 
be secured from the ris^ht kind of food and cook- 
ery, which means, in plain discourse, that a plenty 
of pure, nourishing, and well-cooked food w^ill 
supply us with all the stimulation and strength w^e 
'require, and are a safeguard against lager beer 
and whiskey. " Poor rations are demoralizing, 
and drive many to intemperance. When man 
does not get the stimulating nourishment w^hich 
his nature craves, he becomes demoralized, and 
resorts to the dram-shop to supply the want of 
good and stimulating food." 



WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



II. WHAT ANIMAL FOOD TO EAT. 

The Bible's bill of animal food for man's diet is 
the best, purest, most delicate, and most popular 
that has ever been introduced, all civilized people, 
with few exceptions, living up to it (many unwit- 
tingly, though ?). How fortunate that God decided 
the animal food question. He well knew what 
animal food was unsanitary, and quickly foresaw, 
that if man was left unrestrained in this matter, 
great confusion and fatal consequences w^ould re- 
sult. Had no danger existed, there would have 
been no need of an exact and imperative prohibition 
and allowance, wherein has been established more 
complete sanitary eating than physiologists could 
have effected for ages, had they been the author. 
Without this Bible restriction of animal food, 
it would have been no easy matter for them to 
convince man that he could not eat of any 
kind of flesh in the animal kingdom that pleased 
him. 

That God intended for man to eat animal food 
is evident from the plain directions which He 
has given. His instructions are, that the animals 
to be eaten by him must be pure, and allows only 



WHAT ANIMAL FOOD TO EAT. 19 

those for his diet that are fastidious eaters, and 
require for their subsistence clean and vegetable 
food, which makes their flesh pure, wholesome, 
delicate, refined, dainty, and easily digested. 

Can any one fail to see the wisdom, carefulness, 
and hygiene in God's allowance of animal food for 
His people found in Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. ? 
Surely, He cares for our bodies as well as for 
our souls. For convenience, I copy hereinto the 
cataloofues of wholesome and unwholesome ani- 
mals recorded in the Bible. 



Wholesome Anbials. 

"And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, 
saying. These are the beasts which ye shall eat 
anions: all the beasts that are on the earth. 
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, 
and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye 
shall eat." 

" These are the beasts which ye shall eat. The 
ox, the sheep, and the goat, the hart, and the roe- 
buck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and 
the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois-, and 
every beast that parteth the hoof and cheweth the 
cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat." 

" These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters. 



20 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Whatsoever hath scales and fins m the waters, in 
the seas, in the rivers, them shall ye eat." 

There can be no doubt but this category of fish 
for food by Moses is the most wholesome. They 
are not very oily, but delicate and easily digested. 
The Great Naturalist's zoological marks so plainly 
discriminate the wholesome from the unwhole- 
some animals, that the eye of the unlearned can 
readily make the distinction. 

No o:eneral catalosfue is o-iven in the Bible for 
wholesome birds, yet the same principle is ob- 
served as for quadrupeds, — they must subsist on 
clean food. " Of all clean birds ye may freely 
eat." 

Unwholesome Animals. 

The Bible plainly teaches that the animals which 
the great Law-giver forbade man to eat are not 
clean eaters, but live on carrion and prey, eating 
their food in filth, which makes their flesh un- 
wholesome and not fit for man's food. 

"Nevertheless, ye shall not eat of them that 
chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof, as 
the camel, because he cheweth the cud but divideth 
not the hoof, he is unclean unto you. And the 
hare and the coney, for they chew the cud, but 
divide not the hoof, therefore they are unclean 



WHAT AXIMAL FOOD TO EAT. 21 

unto you. And the swine, though he divide the 
hoof, yet he cheAveth not the cud, he is unclean 
unto you ; ye shall not eat their flesh." 

"Whatsoever hath no fins and scales, in the seas 
and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, 
and of any living thing njliich is in the icaters, 
they shall be an abomination unto you ; 3^e shall 
not eat of their flesh." 

Unwholesome Birds. 

Carnivorous birds, as well as quadrupeds, are 
forbidden. "And these are they which ye shall 
have in abomination among the fowls, they shall 
not be eaten. The eagle, and the ossifrage, and 
the osprey, and the vulture, and the kite after his 
kind, and the owl, and the nighthawk, and the 
cuckoo, and the great and the little owl, and the 
swan, and the pelican, and the gier-eagle, and 
the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the 
lapwing, and the bat. All fowls that creep, going 
upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you." 

Creeping Things. 

"These also shall be unclean unto you among 

the creeping things that creep upon the earth. 

The weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after 

his kind, and the ferret, and the chameleon, and 



22 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

the lizard, and the snail, and the mole, and every 
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, it 
shall not be eaten." 

'^ This is the law of the beasts, and the fowl, 
and of every living thing that moveth in the 
waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon 
the earth." 

The laws for animal food hold a very prominent 
part in the revelation given to Moses. Wonder- 
fully few accessions have been made by succeeding 
generations to his list of edible animals, and with 
only a few exceptions his animal food laws have 
been kept by all subsequent civilized people. 
Only starvation would tempt a civilized man to 
accept a slice of turkey-buzzard, dog, ca;t, or 
horse (although the latter is one of the most 
fastidious feeders). These animals, with many 
others that shock the palate, were not any more 
forbidden, or held in greater aversion by Moses, 
than swine's flesh. Yet many of us, in this en- 
lightened Christian age, in this triumphant civil- 
ization of the nineteenth century, are living in a 
senseless disregard of one of Moses' animal food 
laws, and of all the animals forbidden none have 
been so persistently eaten by Christians as swine's 
flesh ! 

To the reader it must be plain that swine were 



WHAT ANIMAL FOOD TO EAT. 23 

no more forbidden by the law than other un- 
wholesome animals, but that the greater sensation, 
then as now, was produced by the people's per- 
sistence in eating them. Their physical record now 
stands worse than ever, and if they were human, 
the popular anti-fat remedy would be at once 
advised. Surely, pork is now fearfully dangerous, 
and our latest medical advices agree with Moses, 
the law-giver, in disallowing it. 

That good and faithful Physician, who is wiser 
than any of us, well understood the hygienic 
bearings of animal food, when He allowed only 
the flesh of those animals for man's diet that was 
the least trying to his stomach and health. From 
his hygienic meat laws we learn the general prin- 
ciples of diet, — that whatever we eat and drink 
should be pure and easy of digestion ; likewise, 
that the safest way is to eat and drink on these 
Bible principles. 

Although pork is largely used throughout all 
Christendom, yet I cannot judiciously give it a 
place in this breakfast director}^ There will be 
no danger of starvation if it is dispensed with. 
The world is full of good things, so we can easily 
repudiate it. Just as good, and much more 
wholesome dishes can be sfotten without it. ^o 



to' 



baked beans, a la New England, no pork sausage. 



24 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

no lard, no " delicate cured hams," no frogs' legs, 
" because they taste like chicken," and no other 
animal food will be introduced, that is not included 
in Moses' catalosfue of wholesome animal food. 

Fats. 

When God created the human stomach. He 
knew just what machinery to place in it, and 
there is no better evidence of the need of fat as 
food than that furnished by nature, which has pro- 
vided the pancreatic juice for the special purpose 
of its digestion. For hundreds of years man 
could not divine how fat was digested. After 
much laborious study, he has lately found out that 
God planned the pancreas at the first for its diges- 
tion. The coarse sort of fats, such as train and 
goose oil, pork and lard, should be eschewed, 
being very trying to most stomachs. It is allowed 
by physicians that the delicate fats found in beef, 
mutton, fowl, eggs, butter, cheese, milk, and del- 
icate fish afibrd all that is necessary to maintain 
the animal heat and working power of the body, 
ordinarily. These, too, should be used wisely — 
only what our wants require, it being a matter of 
individual peculiarity, some being able to digest 
more fat than others. 



WINTER AND SUMMER BREAKFASTS. 25 



III. WINTER AND SUMMER BREAKFASTS. 

The two great divisions of food are nitrogenous, 
or flesh-forming, and carbonaceous, or heat-giving. 
Sub-divisions are made by physiologists, but these 
two cover the ground sufficiently for this purpose. 
Fix in your mind that the nitrogenous articles of 
food produce blood and flesh, and that the non- 
nitrogenous or carbonized, produce heat, and you 
will have a key that will unlock many of the 
mysteries of diet. Our food contains more or 
less, of these elements. Some have no nitroo-en, 
some no carbon, and some both properties in va- 
rious proportions. 

Winter Breakfasts. 

The three kinds or classes of food, the special 
oflace of which is to support animal heat and 
produce fat, are the oils, the sweets, and the 
starches, and these have little or no influence in 
promoting strength, muscle, or endurance. Fat 
is one of the most powerful agents in the produc- 
tion of animal heat. 

From this we learn that the object of eating is 
to strengthen and keep us warm. Carbon, or 



26 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

charcoal, when burned in our grates, gives out 
heat. When taken into the system, in the form 
of food, the burning process that it undergoes 
there a'ives to us a warmth which is called vital 
heat. It keeps up the fire of life. It is this 
which sustains human life, and it must be pro- 
duced by the internal combustion of the carbona- 
ceous elements of the food we eat. In vain 
would the softest seal-skin or blanket enwrap our 
bodies without that warmth which comes from 
within. 

Consequently, the keener the cold weather, the 
more carbonized or heat-producing food we re- 
quire to keep up the fire of life. On a sharp 
winter's morning, the breakfast we eat decides 
our efficiency for execution through the da}^ 
The heating material taken at supper has been 
appropriated during the night, and if the system 
is not supplied by a carbonaceous, as well as a 
nitrogenous breakfast, our whole being will be so 
badly influenced through the forenoon, that neither 
the dinner nor the supper will repair it ; but when 
properly fed, with food containing both these ele- 
ments, such as meats, grains, fats, sweets, and 
starch, our vital action vrill be sustained in full 
force, so that we can work vigorously for at least 
five hours before another reinforcement of strenofth 



WINTER AND SUMMER BREAKFASTS. 27 



and warmth from food is needed. We all know 
that, so long as a person feels cold all through his 
body, no work is done to advantage. As the cold 
weather approaches, it is absolutely necessary that 
we gradually change the cooling breakfast of the 
hot weather to a more nutritious and heat-pro- 
ducing one — more meats, fats, sweets. 

Summer Breakfasts. 
Were we to pursue the plan of eating the heat- 
producing breakfasts in summer which we found 
beneficial to our well-being in winter, a highly 
feverish state of blood would be produced, and 
inflannnatory diseases created. In the spring, a 
gradual change in the nature of diet is necessary. 
Less fats, sweets, and starch, as in line flour, are 
needed. Continue the muscle-making food, such 
as the darker portion of grains, milk, lean meats, 
fowl, and fish. Fish contain a small proportion 
of heating power, and in summer are well adapted 
to the wants of the system. Banish from your 
breakfast buckwheat cakes and molasses. Use 
more of the entire product of the grain (except 
the hull). Use the early salads and cooling vege- 
tables which succeed each other in their season. 
The delightful berry and melon, which contain no 
carbon at all, should be freely eaten at breakfast. 



2S WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Those who pursue this plan feel no real loss of 
health, and find it far more aoTeeable than druo-s 
and doctors' bills. 

Physiologies are now plenty. They furnish us 
with a knowledge of the elements of the human 
body. Their tables, showing the nature or ele- 
ments of both the animal and veg^etable diet' de- 
sio^ned for the subsistence of 'man will o^ive one a 
new sense of tlie relation of food to health. 



THE GENUINE BREAKFAST. 29 



IV. THE GENUINE BREAKFAST. 

How pleasant those homes where genuine break- 
fasts are appreciated; where cooking morality 
is of importance, and the food is aesthetically 
prepared. Feeling assured of a satisfying bill of 
flire, with what cheerfulness the fiimily respond to 
the news of the morning repast. Who can deny 
the comforts, luxury, and moral benefit of this 
meal in one's own cheerful breakfast-room, where 
the cutlets are sweet to the senses, the baked pota- 
toes dainty and mealy, the biscuits of an ethereal 
nature; where the coffee is fragrant and delicate, 
and possessed of such charms that spirituous bev- 
erages have no temptation; where the cream 
comes safely from the cow to the pitcher; and 
where each dish brings health and pleasure. 

Such a breakfast is absolutely perfect, because 
attractive, wholesome, nutritious, simple, and 
easily digested, leaving the stomach comfortable, 
the head so clear, the spirits so light, and the 
vital forces so supplied that amiable visages, clear 
financiering, speculation, and imagination are the 
speedy compensation. Beside, the stomach, when 



30 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

in this beautiful condition, is a moral force ; and 
if (as is sometimes said) many of the evils of 
the world are traceable to bad and scanty food, 
with this kind of breakfast one should not fail to 
be a better man or woman throughout the day. 



THE COUNTERFEIT BREAKFAST. 31 



V. THE COUNTERFEIT BREAKFAST. 

A HOME without a good breakfast — how shall 
we describe it? Instead of the sunny courtesy 
with which a man comes to a faultless breakfast, 
he who has no assurance of a satisfying morning 
repast, comes like a man v/ho has had bad news 
broken to him, and most likely with a " breach of 
peace " pictured on his face. Yet, if this man had 
the same assurance of an attractive breakfast of 
wdiich the courteous one was confident, he might 
have excelled him in politeness. 

Pity the sorrows of those who are not especially 
favored with a genuine breakfast, that stimulates 
the bod}^ lightens the spirits, clears the thought, 
gives moral force, and recompenses by generally 
resisting the foes of life, for he who is badly and 
scantily fed in the morning has not the moral 
safeguard through the day of him who has been 
w^ell fed at breakftist. 

When so much depends on this meal, is it not 
surprising that so many treat it indifferently ? A 
broiled beefsteak, a digestible breakfast-cake, a 
dainty baked potato, a clear cup of coffee, are 
especial wonders in many families, who have 



32 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

never dreamed that a square and satisfying break- 
fast has much to do with the prosperity of humanity. 
In this enlightened republic, instead of breaking 
fast with a plenty of simple and nourishing food, 
how many begin the labors of the day with a scanty, 
unattractive, and indigestible breakfast, which 
exhausts instead of supplying the forces ! 

Bacon or pork served swimming in grease, 

— steak fried or broiled till the life has srone out 
of it, and consequently so tough and hard that one 
could eat and enjoy a side of leather about as 
easily, — cold potatoes warmed over in fat that 
suggests the longevity of both fat and the vessel 
in which it was preserved, — a hastened corn-cake 
so rank with soda that the stoni^ach is made un- 
happy through the day, — a choice mutton-chop 
transformed beyond recognition, — muffins burned 
to a cinder, by forcing them with too hot an oven, 

— scrambled eggs, and griddle-cakes made leath- 
ery for want of promptness, — the coffee, alas! 
for that precious cup, that benefactor of mankind, 
so invaluable to many for its gentle stimulating 
powers, and especially designed for sustenance 
instead of dangerous wine, — this indispensable 
comfort so muddy and bitter that you cannot 
recognize its first principles ; and to complete its 
transformation, the milk served in an unsanitary 



THE COUNTERFEIT BREAKFAST. 33 

pitcher ! These are familiar breakfasts in many 
families. 

Dangerous breakftists these. They do not fitly 
feed hunger. The hungry body vainly tries to 
recuperate in its efibrts to digest this wretchedly- 
cooked food not " convenient " for it, so that what 
might have been done had the food been rightly 
cooked, remains undone. Determination, appli- 
cation, and patience will enable one to serve a 
very difierent morning meal, with a little earlier 
rising, if necessary, for a breakfast gotten in "no 
time " usually drifts its own way. 

There is much truth in those old proverbs 
which say that "necessity knows no law," and 
that "hunger will make a hungry monkey eat 
pepper." This land is flowing with ivhiskey 
and lager. He who has not been fitly fed at 
breakfast is unsafe, for before noon the inward 
craving is sure to make a demand, which must 
be satisfied ; and the saloons become an easy 
resort for eking out a poor breakfast. A man 
disappointed in this meal can easily console his 
hummer with somethino^ to drink. Breakfast Avas 
insufiicient to give him strength ; he must have 
something to make up the want, and he foolishly 
believes he can quickly get it from a glass of 



34 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

whiskey or beer, which gives him spasmodic 
strength for a brief time, but when the reaction 
comes leaves him worse ofi than ever. Is it not 
wise ix) teach that a breakfast unfailingly good, 
with all the elements that stimulate and nourish 
the body, has its moral as well as physical 
benefit ? 



SECTION^ II. 



MEASURES, SODA AND SOUR MILK. 37 



II. 

MEASURES. 

The measures for this breakfast book are half- 
pint cups, tea and table spoons. As these vary in 
size, the safest way is to have one particular cup 
and spoon for cooking measures, which have been 
proved by a sure standard. 

For a cupful the ordinary breakfast-cup is used, 
that holds half a pint. 

Two cupfuls mean a pint. 

A cupful means half a pint. 

A teaspoonful means just rounding full and not 
heaped. 

SODA AND SOUR MILK. 

Great numbers wdio profusely use soda, for light- 
ening bread, are ignorant of its nature, and not 
aware that it is ruinous to the human stomach 
when not neutralized by an acid. When the soda 
and acid are used in just the right proportions to 
neutralize each other, they are not considered in- 
jurious to health, provided they are pure. 

In olden times sour milk was exclusively used 
for neutralizing soda. In later times cream-tartar 



38 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

has been much used instead, as a greater conven- 
ience. At present it cannot be depended upon, on 
account of its adulteration ; consequent!}^, cautious 
people are falling back on sour milk again, feeling 
confident of its purity. Meantime, somehow, 
many have lost the knack of compounding soda 
and sour milk as accurately as their predecessors, 
who never used too much, neither too little soda, 
but always the right quantity. My mother's table 
was always furnished with some kind of sour-milk 
bread, which was invariably the same, — always 
just right. 

AN OLD-SCHOOL HOUSEKEEPER 

will tell you that this chemical operation should 
be performed with caution, demanding knowledge 
and care ; also, that the safest way is to use 
smoothly-loppered or nicely soured milk instead 
of partly soured, the exact proportions being one 
teaspoon of soda to one pint of sour milk. 

Should you have to resort to milk when only 
partly soured, the exact amount of soda now de- 
pends on the acidity of the milk, and you cannot I 
so accurately proportion your soda as for nicely 
soured or loppered milk or cream- tartar, which is, 
or should be, always the same. The safest way 
now, is to add a part of the measure of cream- 



SODA AND CREAM-TAKTAR. 39 

tartar [o your milk that you would use for the 
same quantity of sweet milk. The addition of 
this to the partly soured milk will make it the 
right acidity for the usual measure of soda. You 
cannot use the whole measure of cream-tartar, 
which is two teaspoonfuls to a pint of sweet milk, 
as the measure of soda (one teaspoonful) is only 
enough to sweeten a part of each acid. This 
mode relieves you of guessing, which many adopt 
who have not the skill of guessing just right the 
required amount, and usually err by getting an 
.overdose of soda ; hence the effect, — cakes of a 
golden hue, smelling strong of soda. 

In the receipts for sour-milk breakfast-cakes, I 
would have it distinctly understood that I have 
adopted the following rule as a general one : 
One teaspoonful of soda to one jpint of nicely 
soured or loppered milk, 

SODA AND CREAM -TARTAR. 

Pure cream-tartar and soda have no equal for 
making convenient breakfest-cakes. For very 
small cakes, such as griddles, muffins, waffles, 
and various breakfast-cakes, it is quite usual to 
lighten them with these ingredients, by adding 
both in a dry state, finely pulverized, to the flour, 
and siftino- them with it. The acid and soda 



40 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

readil}^ unite and produce the desired gas for 
liofhteninof the bread. This is now considered the 
better and surer way, as the success of these light- 
ening ingredients depends on their equal distribu- 
tion throughout the flour. When thoroughly 
incorporated with the flour, you avoid finding 
those lumps of soda in various parts of the bread, 
which give it a yellow color and disagreeable 
flavor. To neutralize each, use one teaspoonful of 
soda to two of cream-tartar. These proportions 
have been accurately allowed by chemists, 

HOME-MADE YEAST. 

It is a convenience to know how to make good 
yeast when you cannot buy it. If you have not 
sweet old yeast to start the new with, you can 
create some by making of flour and water a thin 
batter, and letting it stand in a warm place till 
fermented. This will be as efiective as old yeast 
for starting the new and fresher, giving a sweet 
and pleasant flavor to the bread. When yeast is 
entirely new, you get sweeter bread than when 
started with old and half-decayed yeast, which 
produces an unpleasant flavor with a certainty. 
When it has a tart smell and a watery appearance 
on the surface it is too stale to use. 

Home-made dried yeast-cakes are not reliable, 



HOME-MADE YEAST. 41 

and do not make bread of the first quality. 
Potato yeast is reliable, and considered better 
than that made in the usual way. The dough 
made from it does not sour as readily, but will 
remain perfectly sweet until it has increased twice 
the original quantity, requiring a little extra time 
for rising. Bread made from this yeast is sweet, 
light, and does not dry quickly. Yeast made 
from the following receipt will keep four weeks in 
hot weather, in a cold place : — 

Two quarts of water. 

One cup of hops. 

Four good potatoes. 

One cup of sugar. 

One dessert-spoon of ginger. 

Half a cup of salt. 

Boil the hops half an hour in the two quarts of 
water. Peal, boil, and mash the potatoes very 
fine. Strain the hop- water through a fine strainer 
and mix with the potato, sugar, ginger, and salt. 
When blood-warm stir in a cupful of sweet and 
lively yeast, or a cake of compressed, dissolved in 
warm water. Keep it covered in a warm room 
five or six hours, when it is usually sufiiciently 
effervesced. While getting light give it a good 
beating several times. When sufficiently light. 



42 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

pour it into sweet glass jars, cork tight, and keep 
it in a cool cellar or place. 

Less sugar and salt may be used in cold weather, 
as these are desis^ned to arrest excessive fermenta- 
tion. The ginger is intended to keep the yeast 
from souring. The quantity directed does not 
affect the flavor of the bread. Some use flour to 
thicken yeast, but it will keep longer without. 
Those who have once used these directions are un- 
willing to relinquish them. 

BREAKFAST FARES. 

Breakfast is usually quickly and hurriedly pre- 
pared, requiring undivided attention. For a cook 
to worry her brain trying to think of half a 
dozen or more different dishes for this meal, seems 
a serious mistake. Commonly, three or four 
nicely-cooked dishes after the grain course will 
answer better in every way. In the following 
bills of fare for breakfasts, this number of newly- 
cooked dishes is suggested, w^hich will greatly 
lessen the labor of the housekeeper, and save her 
from that disapproving conscience which she is 
sure to experience when a greater number is at- 
tempted, and the result is an array of half-spoiled 
dishes. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 43 

Eiicli bill of fare offers all the chemical elements 
required for nutrition, consisting usually of veo-e- 
table and animal food, leaving the quantity to be 
regulated by the appetite and individual necessity. 
Each dish is plainly prepared, so that the distinc- 
tive characteristics of the food may be retained. 
In the temperate zone instinct demands a varied 
diet adapted to the rapid changes of the climate. 
The different bills of fare sus^o^ested, 2:ive the in- 
dividual an opportunity for the selection of such a 
breakfast as the season and the necessity demand. 

The grain course is suggested as a first course, 
a plan now being adopted to prevent the immoder- 
ate use of animal food, to which many are given, 
and which is condemned by Hygiene. 

Fruit is suggested as last, yet this is not arbi- 
trary. It does not matter what place it occupies, 
if only this wise sanitary custom of eating fruit in 
the morning is observed. 



SECTION III. 
BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 47 



III. 

BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 

Beefsteak deserves the highest rank among 
breakfast fares. This Bible and chemically sanc- 
tioned food, purposely designed for man, is very 
satisfying to the stomach, and possesses great 
strengthening powers. To replenish the animal 
sph'its there is no food like beef, and when kept 
till properly tender, and properly cooked, nothing- 
will give the stomach less trouble. It is iron 
which gives the red color to flesh. Beef is not 
wantinof in this life-o^ivino; element, which oives a 
decided verdict in its favor. 



48 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 1. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Beefsteak. Macaroni. Eggs on Toast. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

CRACKED WHEAT. 

Wheat as food is the most important of the 
grains, because it is more available for all the 
wants of the system than any of the other grains. 
It is said to be as nearly a perfect natural food as 
milk, containing everything in itself to support 
life, being composed of the same elements as the 
human body, and in about the same proportions. 

Sifting and Bolting lessen these properties 
to a serious extent. The l)ran, Avhich is thrown 
away, contains about forty per cent of the nutri- 
ment of the grain. The miller robs it of its 
gluten and albumen, which make muscular 
strength ; of its mineral and phosphatic prop- 
erties, which nourish bone, muscle, and brain. 

The only way now for us to secure this grain in 
perfection, and restore brain, bone, and muscle, 
is to cook it unground. It is delicious as well as 
w^holesome when eaten with a dressing of cream 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 49 

or milk, fi'uit, sugar, or sirup, and is much used 
by those who understand the philosophy of grains. 

Cracked wheat is only in perfection when 
cooked in a double boiler, for it is an essential 
rule that grains of all kinds should never be 
stirred while cooking. This rule cannot be ob- 
served when cooked in a single boiler. When 
done, each grain should be charmingly light and 
porous, distinct, yet jelly-like. When watery, it 
is not palatable or attractive, and spoils the nice 
flavor and richness of the milk. The water should 
be boiling in the outside boiler, and boiling Avater 
put into the inside boiler. To nearly a quart of 
boiling water put a teaspoonful of salt, and a half- 
pint cupful of cracked wheat. Boil three hours 
or more, or till done. Grains are very unwhole- 
some and disagreeable when underdone. 

For breakfast it should be cooked the day pre- 
vious, and reheated in the morning, as there is 
not time then to give it the long cooking it needs. 
When reheated for breakfast, do not remove it 
from the inner boiler, but fill the outer boiler w^ith 
l)oiling water, and let it boil till heated through. 
Do not add w^ater to the inner boiler. Many pre- 
fer it cold. It takes the mould, and should be 
poured into it while hot, or before the starch is 
set, which makes a handsome dish when served 
cold. 



50 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BEEFSTEAK. 

Never fry a beefsteak. People who know what 
really good cooking is, do not fry l)eefsteak. 
When fried in fat, it is both vulgar and indigesti- 
ble. Broiling, which suddenly hardens the sur- 
face, and keeps the juice within the steak, is the 
most eligTl)le style for cooking beefsteak, and 
those who wish to invigorate themselves adopt it. 

The appearance of beefsteak is injured by 
pounding it. If you suspect it is tough, the bet- 
ter method is to cut several parallel strokes across 
it on each side, with a sharp knife, not cutting 
through, but lightly cutting the surface. The 
quick heat will unite the incisions again, and when 
cooked you will hardly perceive them. If there 
is much fat, trim it off, else it will drop on the 
coals and smoke. 

A lioht wire o^ridiron, tliat can be turned 
quickly, is best. Have a clear and hot fire, that 
will last through your l^roiling. For a minute, 
hold each side to the fire, to car])onize the surface 
before the broiling begins. This method saves 
the juice of the meat. When car1)onized, expose 
it to a slower heat and broil it. Turn frequently, 
but do not stick a fork into it while broiling, or 
the juice will escape. Broil your steak lightly or 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 51 

rare, but not mw. Have your outside a good 
meat brown, your inside a nice red. Never salt 
steak while broiling, as it extracts the juice. 
When done, sprinkle it h'ghtly with salt, lay it on 
a hot dish, Avith a few small pieces of butter, but 
do not have it swimming in l)utter, as the juice is 
supposed to be inside the steak. Pepper should 
be an individual application, if you do not know 
the desire of your guests. Set the platter in the 
oven a moment, to melt the butter. To be nice, 
it must be served hot. 

EGGS ON TOAST. 

Have in a spider boiling hot water, yet not lit- 
erally boiling, and enough to cover an egg, when 
broken into it. Add a teaspoonful of salt. Place 
as many muffin rings in the water as is needed. 
Break each egg into a cup, then turn it gently 
into a rinof. Let them cook without boilins^. 
When delicately cooked, or till the eggs are cov- 
ered with a white film, remove the rings, and lay 
each egg on a slice of toast. This method gives 
a much handsomer dish than when dropped the 
usual way. Toast your bread in season for the 
eggs when done. Have ready a pan of hot water. 
Dip each slice quicklj^, only moistening, not soak- 
ing it, and place in the platter for the eggs. 



52 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

MACARONI 

should be washed and broken into lengths of live 
or six inches. Put into a plenty of hot water 
previously salted. Boil half an hour, or until 
tender. Meanwhile, for the average quantity, 
scald half a cup of rich milk, and, while hot, add 
a table-spoon of butter, which pour over the mac- 
aroni, when ready to be served. In the winter, 
when potatoes are poor and unwholesome, this 
dish makes a very welcome substitute. 

COFFEE. 

The coffee, jmr excellence, is an equal mixture 
of Java and Mocha, one giving strength, the other 
flavor and aroma. 

Coifee connoisseurs prefer roasting their own 
coffee, or having a personal supervision of it. 
First, let your coffee get well dried and heated, 
then put it where it will roast. It should have 
undivided attention, and be stirred constanll}^ till 
done. If left half a minute, the kernels next the 
kettle may burn black, and these will spoil all the 
rest. To have good coffee, it must be evenly 
roasted a dark, rich brown. Black, burnt coffee 
has a bitter flavor, instead of being finely flavored, 
like nicely-roasted coffee. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 53 

After your coffee is roasted, the next important 
feature is the grinding, which should be mod- 
erately fine. If ground too fine and powdery, it 
is hard to make it clear ; if too coarse, you lose 
much of the streno^th and aroma. It should be 
freshly ground each time it is used. Coffee 
should be kept in a dry place, in a tin can, or 
glass jar, tightly closed. 

The next thing is the cleanliness of your coffee- 
pot, of which many never suspect the importance, 
and do not empty their coffee-pot of dregs till 
obliged to. Coffee is just as imperfect as other 
food that has been cooked in an unwashed vessel. 
The coffee-pot should not be allowed to become 
coated with coffee dregs, but carefully washed 
every time it is used, in hot suds, rinsed, wiped 
dry, and set on the stove, where it will get per- 
fectly dry. 

It seems a waste of time to write out a recipe 
for making coffee, as most housekeepers have 
their favorite method. Messrs. Blot and Delmon- 
ico were very emphatic about the impropriety of 
boiling coffee, preferring it made in a French 
filter. Without any disrespect to either, the 
Avriter differs from their sanctioned opinions, and 
gives her experience of the coffee question. 

The ordinary coffee-pot was always used in my 



54 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

family. To clear the coffee, an egg, with the 
shell crushed, was stirred into a cup of moderately 
ground coffee before putting it into the coffee-pot, 
when a quart of boiling water was poured to both, 
the coffee-pot tightly closed, and boiled eight or 
ten minutes. A cupful was then poured out, to 
clear the spout from dregs, pouring the same back 
again. While clearing, which should take six or 
seven minutes, set on the back of the stove, 
where it can be kept hot. It is a mistake not 
to let coffee wait a few minutes after clearing the 
spout. With good cream, this was as delicious 
coffee as need be ; and I would say that you do 
not have coffee in perfection unless you have good 
cream. No matter how nice your coffee, how 
well roasted, or how boiled, if you do not have 
cream for an accompaniment, you do not have 
delicious and perfect coffee. Never decant coffee, 
for much flavor is lost by pouring it from one 
vessel to the other. 

Observe the following rules, and, without new 
inventions, they will give you good coffee. Buy 
good coffee. Roast it an even brown. Have a 
clean coffee-pot. Serve it in the vessel in which 
it was boiled. Boil quickly. Have cream, if you 
can ; else hot, but not boiled milk. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 55 



BREAKFAST No, 2. 



Sirloin Beefsteak. 

Gravy au naturel. 

Buttered Toast. Baked Apple Sauce. 



Cocoa. Ripe Fruit. 

This simple and easily digested breakfast is a 
very valuable one for those who need much nour- 
ishment in a small compass. The accompaniments 
can be changed to suit one's taste and condition. 

SIRLOIN BEEFSTEAK. 

Take three slices of beefsteak, one a sirloin, 
and two from the round, as the round yields more 
juice than any other cut. Broil them rapidly and 
lightly. When cooked, place the choice sirloin in 
the middle of a platter, and add a little butter. 
With a meat-squeezer, press the juice entirely 
from the rounds over the sirloin. Serve at once. 
The essence of rare beef thus expressed is con- 
sidered a better tonic by some physicians than 
beef tea prepared the usual way. 



56 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BUTTERED TOAST. 

Yevy few know just how to toast bread nicely. 
Though simple and easy it often gets spoiled, and 
is seldom seen without symptoms of burning. 
The bread must not be too fresh. To make but- 
tered toast in perfection, you want a very light stale 
loaf of raised bread. You need a clear lire, and it 
is best when only one slice is toasted at a time, 
holding it at just the distance from the fire to 
brown nicely and without scorching. The whole 
surface of each side should be a golden brown. 
The perfect way is to butter each slice when taken 
from the fire, and serve immediately, being in 
perfection only when freshly done. When not 
convenient to serve immediately, pile the toast as 
you finish it on a plate, cover it with a deep tin, 
and keep it in an open oven till served. 



BAKED APPLE SAUCE. 

Fill a baking dish with nice juicy apples, peeled, 
cored, and quartered. Strew sugar over them. 
Fit a plate closely over the dish, Avhich set in a 
larger pan, with hot water in the bottom, about an 
inch in depth. Set it in the oven, and bake till 
clear and tender. If they are not very juicy, put 



BEEFSTEAK BKEAKFASTS. 57 

two ta])les})oons of water to them. Prepare the 
day previous for breakfast, — very nice. 

COCOA. 

In this age of adulteration, w^ise and cautious 
people, who like to know what they drink, use 
cracked cocoa, or shells and cocoa mixed. To half 
or three-quarters of a cup of cracked cocoa, add 
one quart of boiling water, and cook tw^o and a 
half or three hours. When sufficiently boiled, 
add sufficient hot water to make up for the evapo- 
ration and to make it the right strength. Add 
sufficient milk, and let the whole come to a boiling 
point, but do not let it boil, as boiled milk gives 
an unpleasant flavor ; or, you can heat the milk 
separately, adding a part to the cocoa pot and the 
rest to the cream pitcher, from which supply to 
your taste. The perfection of cocoa is its liberal 
supply of milk. 



58 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 3. 

Whole Wheat and Milk. 
Rump Beefsteak. Baked Potatoes. 



fJaised Biscuits {light as a foam). 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

WHOLE ^VHEAT. 

This tempting dish can be eaten with a dressing 
of cream, milk, sugar, or sirup. Fruit sirups are 
a delicious dressing for it, — also, it is nice eaten 
as a veo-etable with meats. Select the white 
wheat, if it can be obtained, as it cooks more 
readily and looks more inviting. Wash it well, 
turn off all that rises to the surface of the water, 
then drain it dry. If there is any foreign matter, 
it should be picked out. Put it into an inner 
boiler, with five or six times its measure of boiling 
water. Add boiling water to the outer boiler and 
cook six or eight hours, or until all have opened 
out similar to the kernels of popped corn. For 
breakfast it should be cooked the day previous, 
and reheated like cracked wdieat. 



BKEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 59 



RUMP BEEFSTEAK. 
The ])est cuts are from the middle of the rump, 
^vhich has much flavor, and is preferred by many. 

"Broil lightly your beefsteak — to fry it, 
Argues contempt of Christian diet." 

BAKED POTATOES. 

Americans are very fond of baked potatoes as 
an accompaniment to steak. When in perfection, 
mealy, and of the first quality in flavor, they are 
unrivalled. Unless they can be presented in this 
dainty condition, it is far better that they should 
be disguised and made palatable by some artifice 
which the French resort to ; for unless these 
tubers are in mealy perfection, they are not easily 
disrested. However well baked, their excellence 
depends on their being served immediatel3% as 
they quickly lose their lightness, and " the glory 
of a baked potato is its mealiness." 

RAISED BISCUIT, 
light as a foam, ''The lighter the better, altho' 
many do not think so." This is Prof. Blot's 
philosophy. '' Lightness is a most important 
quality in warm biscuit, as it enables them to be 



60 V/HAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

more easily acted upon by the digestive fluids," 
which v/ill force a rapid passage through light 
biscuit, but can penetrate a rubber ball about as 
easily as heavy baked ones. What is so rare as 
light, white, and thin-crusted home-made raised 
biscuit for breakfjist? Yet this luxury can be 
easily attained if the dough is well raised. 

In warm weather, raised dough can be kept for 
two or three days for morning biscuit, if covered 
with a damp cloth and set in a cold place, where 
it will not sour. In cold weather, if set in a cool 
place, where there is no danger of freezing, it will 
keep the same length of time. Certainly this is 
a convenience, and many think it improves the 
dough, if it can be kept sweet. 

If you are a novice, you must learn at the out- 
set that you cannot have good biscuit or bread 
without the best quality of flour, fresh and lively 
yeast. It is advisable to use compressed yeast, 
as it is best when it can be had fresh. Too 
much salt destroys the nice flavor of bread, too 
little makes it insipid. Liquid yeast is sometimes 
quite salt ; in this case you must be cautious about 
salting your bread. Compressed yeast requires 
salt in the bread. 

A little too much heat injures biscuit, and too 
little ruins them. If the oven is .too hot, they 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFAPTS. ^'1 



Avill bake outside before the heat penetrates the 
centre, consequently you have them heavy and 
underdone in the middle. Unless the oven is hot 
enough the biscuit will spread. One that does not 
bake at the bottom will be likely to spoil your bis- 
cuit. A great deal depends on the oven. 

For morning biscuit, mix dough at nine o'clock 
in the evening. Scald your milk, and there will 
not be the danger of its souring. If not conve- 
nient to use milk, use all or a part water, and rub 
a teaspoonful of butter into the flour. 

RULE. 

One quart of sifted flour. 
One pint of warm milk. 
Half a cake of compressed, 
Or half a cup of liquid, yeast. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 

Make a hollow in the flour and add the salt. 
Dissolve yeast if compressed in a little of the wet- 
ting, and with the milk pour into the hollow. 
Mix till it becomes a dough. Dredge your mould- 
ing board evenly with flour. Lay your dough 
upon it and knead twenty-five minutes. In knead- 
ing, use just flour enough to keep the dough from 
stickins: to the hands. The great mistake in mak- 



62 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

ing dough is getting it too stiff with flour. When 
the fingers can be pressed into it without sticking, 
your bread is kneaded enough. Learn to get the 
right consistency, without too much flour, which 
should be soft as possible Avithout sticking. 
Twenty-five minutes are long enough for the first 
kneading and ten for the second. When kneaded, 
return to the bowl, which should be earthen, as it 
is a better protection from cold than tin. Cover 
warm, and place where no draft of cold air can 
strike across it, for if allowed to be chano-ins: 
temperature while fermenting, it will hinder its 
rising, and your dough will be heavy. To rise 
Avell, it needs an even temperature of seventy 
degrees. 

In the morning, as soon as you go into your 
kitchen, with a spoon push the dough down from 
the top and sides of the pan, and let it rise again. 
When light, knead it ten minutes, lightly, avoid- 
ing much flour. When kneaded, cut little bits for 
your biscuit, mould with your hands into small 
rounds, without using any flour. Set them a little 
distance apart, in a lightly-l)uttered pan, cover 
with a cloth, and set where they can have an even 
temperature of eighty or eighty-five degrees. 
When risen to twice their size, they are ready for 
the oven. Bake fifteen or twenty minutes. When 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 63 

done, let them remain a few minutes, with the 
oven door open, to dry off the moisture and ripen, 
and prevent them from being sticky. 

You now have the secret of light biscuit. 
Nowadays many cooks rush their biscuit through 
in half or three-quarters of an hour for breakfast, 
which accounts for their being half- risen, half- 
baked, sticky and doughy in the mouth. May 
you see the folly of this, and rise in season to give 
your biscuit time to rise, bake, and dry off, else 
you will never have them light. 



BREAKFAST No. 4. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Beefsteak. Fried Hasty Pudding. 



Tomato Sauce. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

Those who bow to Hygiene need have no fears 
of this breakfast, and, when well gotten, an epicure 
will not object to a second trial. 

FRIED HASTY PUDDING. 

This hygienic mush is rarely found in perfection, 
but half raw and lumpy. When corn-meal hasty 



64 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

pudding is made on purpose to fry for breakfast, 
it makes the slices stronger to mix a tablespoonful 
of flour with one quart of meal. Be careful to 
use no more flour. For frying, it should be made 
quite stiff*, and when for breakfast, it should be 
made the day before. 

A Scotch kettle is the best for making hasty 
pudding. First, stir a large portion of the meal 
to be used in cold water till there are no lumps. 
Stir this gradually into boiling water, which has 
been salted. If more is needed, stir in enough to 
make it the right consistency. Do not get it too 
hard and stiff*. After the meal is all in, it needs 
an hour's cooking or simmering, or it will taste 
raw. When done, mould it in a nice brick-loaf 
pan. From this shape you can cut handsome 
slices, which should be about three-quarters of an 
inch in thickness, or strong enough not to break. 
Fry on a griddle, well greased with beef drippings. 

TOMATO SAUCE. 

Pour boiling water over well ripened tomatoes, 
to remove the skins. When skinned, cut into a 
stew-pan, and stew briskly half an hour. Do not 
cook them too long, as it injures their peculiar 
taste. Salt them, adding a little pepper and but- 
ter, if aofreeable. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 65 

"We need not eat the tomato with fear and 
trembling, as many are wont to do. There is no 
evil about it, and Avhen we don't take care of our- 
selves it will take care of us. It is a deliHitful 
substitute for calomel, and we may wonder how 
the ancestral liver could have been kept comforta- 
ble w^ithout this anti-bilious food. That it is in- 
valuable, and one of the most healthful esculents 
in the vegetable kingdom, is the popular opinion. 
Its healthful qualities do not depend on its mode 
of preparation, and it may be eaten twice or thrice 
per day with like advantage, cooked or uncooked, 
Avith or without a dressinof, and to the utmost that 
the appetite requires. Its healthful qualities con- 
sist in its slight acidity, wdiich makes it as impor- 
tant as fruit, and when the diet is largely meat 
and bread, it is inestimable." 

RIPE FRUIT. 

In the present age, you do not have an a la mode 
breakfast unless fruit is served. Fruit is a gra- 
cious sanitary provision by our Heavenly Father, 
to cleanse the blood of too much carl)on ; there- 
fore it is a very wdse fashion. For breakfast, it 
may be eaten when most agreeable, first or last. 
All kinds of fruit are admissible to the breakfast 
table that are thoroughly ripe. The undeveloped 



()6 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

juice of fruit is very unwholesome. For this rea- 
son, it would be the height of folly to eat it unripe. 
Fruits should be eaten as they grow. Spoil not 
this merciful contribution of Nature by disguising 
its pure and natural flavor. 



BREAKFAST No. 5. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Beefsteak. Fried Cracked Wheat. 



Dried Apple Sauce. 
Bread and Butter. Coffee. 

This breakfast is w^ell patronized by hearty chil- 
dren, and in some families is purposel}^ prepared 
for their benefit. It should often be repeated. 

OATMEAL MUSH. 

You are not up to the times if 3^ou do not advo- 
cate oatmeal at your breakfast-table. " Prof. 
Liebig has chemically demonstrated, that oatmeal 
is almost as nutritious as the very best English 
beef, and that it is richer than wheat bread in the 
elements that go to bone and muscle." 

If this be true, surely every family should vote 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 67 

that they will give it a place at their hreakfast- 
table. With many it is so popular it is found at 
this morning meal the year round. 

At the best appointed tables it is served as a 
first course for breakfiist, the same as cracked 
vs^heat. 'Tis said to be best relished if eaten 
previous to the rest of the meal, beside being a 
convenient arrangement for the preparation of 
the rest of the breakfast. 

When nicely cooked, it is charmingly porous. 
Many spoil it by soaking it over night, and fre- 
quently stirring it while cooking. The only safe 
and perfect way of cooking it is in a double or 
farina boiler. If you give it a regular place at 
your breakfast table, you will save time and money 
by providing one expressly for cooking oatmeal. 
You will find it a great improvement on the old 
way of cooking, for you w^ill get a superior dish, 
with no waste or burning, neither made pasty, as 
by the stirring process. You may be sure of 
nicely-cooked oatmeal, when steamed in a double 
boiler. 

The w^ater should be boiling in the outside 
boiler, and boiling water put into the inside 
boiler. Use one measure of meal to three meas- 
ures of water. Add salt to the water. Sprinkle 
the meal into the water, stirring only a few mo- 



68 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

ments ; then close the vessel, aiid boil one hour 
and a half. Oatmeal, served in a half-raw state, 
is both unwholesome and disao^reeable. 

FRIED CRACKED WHEAT. 

Cracked wheat for frying should be moulded in 
a brick-loaf baking-pan, which gives you hand- 
some slices. When cold, slice it about three- 
quarters of an inch thick. Fry it on a griddle, in 
beef drippings, the same as hasty pudding. Do 
not soak it in fat, only using enough to keep from 
sticking to the pan. 

DRIED APPLE SAUCE. 
Thoroughly wash dried apples. Put them to 
soak in cold water, more than will cover them, as 
they absorb a great deal. Soak the old-fashioned 
dried apples for several hours. Simmer them 
steadily in a preserving-kettle in the same water 
in which they were soaked, till cooked. Never 
stir them, but when they rise, press them down 
with a spoon. Keep them closely covered. When 
tender, add nice brown sugar, and simmer fifteen 
minutes longer. To be nice looking, they should 
retain their form somewhat, yet must be perfectly 
done. The delicate, sliced dried apple can be 
substituted, which requires only twenty minutes' 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 69 

soaking, and not as long cooking. Either are 
nice, when green apples fail. 

RAISED LOAF BREAD. 

There are no better rules for mixing, kneading, 
and raising bread, than those given in Breakfast 
No. 3 for raised biscuit. The measures there 
given can be doubled or trebled, to suit circum- 
stances. 

LIGHT BREAD 

is of great importance. The saliva and gastric 
juice penetrate it easily, and digestion is facili- 
tated. When dense and solid, these juices fail to 
act thoroughly, which is necessary to change bread 
into good blood. Undigested bread corrupts and 
decays, poisoning the blood as certainly as when 
eaten already spoiled. 

KNEADING 

raised bread is very important, making it evenly 
porous and easier of digestion. To be scientific, 
the thorough kneading should be done before the 
dough is raised, — before the gas is established; 
and it follows that as soon as mixed it should be 
thoroughly kneaded twenty-five or thirty minutes. 
If the thorouoh kneadins^ is done after the bread 



70 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

is raised, much of the gas you have taken the 
trouble to produce is pressed out of it. 

For raising dough, summer heat, or about 
seventy degrees, is most favorable. When the 
temperature is lower than this, the fermentation is 
so slow that there is danger of acidity before the 
gas has sufficiently formed. 

In an emergency, or haste, a temperature of 
ninety degrees can be used by lessening the re- 
quirable time, which is six or eight hours. In 
this case, the process must be watched, or it will 
sour. If you find it rising too fast, it can be 
arrested by setting it on the ice, or in a cool place. 

When sufficiently raised, it should be kneaded 
ten minutes only, using as little flour as possible ; 
then make it into loaves, put them into slightly- 
buttered pans, and raise the second time till nearly 
double their first size. If there is any danger of 
acidity, it is safer to bake a little sooner, for if 
the yeast has been thoroughly mixed with every 
part of the dough by kneading, the bread will be 
passably light, if the fermentation is a little less 
than the rule (doubling the dough). 

BAKING. 

It is a very nice point for a novice to decide, 
when the oven is the right temperature. An ex- 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 71 

perienced baker knows this without any rules. 
An inexperienced one can test the heat hy holdmg 
the hand in the oven long enough to count twenty. 
If the hand cannot bear the heat this lenoth of 
time, the oven is too hot, and the bread will bake 
outside before the heat has reached the centre, 
and it cannot rise. If not hot enough, your bread 
will lack s^veetness. 

When right, put your bread into the oven, and 
let it stand at this figure eight or ten minutes, that 
the heat may penetrate the very centre before the 
outside bakes. This will heat the loaf all throu2:h 
alike, and raise it evenly before crust-bound. 
Then increase the heat, and bake from forty min- 
utes to an hour, the time depending on the size of 
the loaf. Generally, we do not bake bread thor- 
oughly. It should have a decided brown crust on 
each side. 

Always take bread out of the pans as soon as 
done, and lean it against a pan, where the pure 
air can pass around it. Never lay it on the table, 
as it will absorb the odor of the table. If the 
crust gets too hard, wring out a bread cloth (which 
should be a fresh one) in cold water, and wrap 
the bread in it. Never put bread away till cold. 
When warm, it absorbs the air about it, wiiich 
should be pure as from the outside world, if 
possible. 



72 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

An old-fashioned hanging shelf in a dry, clean, 
and well-ventilated cellar, is the nicest place to 
keep bread. It should be kept wrapped in a 
fresh and thick bread-cloth. If you cannot have 
this, or a similar convenience, the next best way 
is to keep it in a stone jar, which should be 
washed in hot water once or twice per week. 

Never let failures discourage 3^ou. No part of 
cooking education is more useful, if turned to 
proper account, than the discipline of. failure. 
The success of bread-making depends on effort 
and experience. These will soon make you skil- 
ful, and you will feel as confident of success as in 
making a cup of tea. You may feel sure there is 
no luck about it. To be successful, care is re- 
quired, as in anything else. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTP. 



BREAKFAST No. 6. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Beefsteak. Rye Muffins. 



Lyonnaise Potatoes. Baked Sweet Apples. 



Coffee. Grapes. 

HOMINY AND MILK. 

There are many ancestral dishes which should 
be perpetuated. They should be warmly recom- 
mended to children if we wish to preserve the 
vigor of our race. Hominy is one of the old-time 
preparations which should not be forgotten. 

It should be washed in two or three waters 
as you wash rice. Fine hominy requires four 
measures of water to one of hominy. Put it 
into an inner boiler and allow it to swell for half 
an hour ; then l)oil slowly for three-quarters of an 
hour. Like all mushes, it should be salted very- 
lightly. It is better to put the salt into the water 
before adding the grain. When nearly done, if 
too thin, uncover, and boil till about the con- 
sistency of hasty pudding. 



74 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



RYE MUFFINS. 

One cup and a half of lye meal. 

One cup of flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of sugar. 

Two cups of sweet milk. 

Three ei>^o's. 

One saltspoon of salt. 

No soda or cream tartar. 

Mix the salt with rye meal and flour Add the 
sugar to the eggs and thoroughly beat them, then 
pour into the flour. Add the milk, bringing it to 
a batter quickly, beating a few minutes longer. 
Bake in stone muffin cups three-quarters of an 
hour or more. Rye cakes require more baking 
than other cake. These are very light and nice. 

LYONNAISE POTATOES. 

Cut cold boiled potatoes into dice. When in 
the stew-pan, add cream enough to keep them 
moist, and simmer till hot. They should be of a 
light color. When hot, mix in a little chopped 
parsley and butter. Serve immediately while 
hot. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 75 

BAKED SWEET APPLES. 

Put them into a tin gem pan. Bake them in a 
moderate oven. Do not have them overdone, but 
retain their form. For breakfast, they must be 
baked the day previous. 

GRAPES. 
"This fruit is a medicine as well as a luxury, 
and should be highly prized. The free use of the 
grape has a most salutary effect upon the system, 
diluting the blood, removing obstructions from 
the liver and kidneys, and enabling the blood to 
circulate in the remotest vessels of the skin, also, 
a healthful effect on that compound affliction, dys- 
pepsia. From two to four pounds per day may 
be eaten with benefit. These remarks apply to 
the fruit when perfectly ripe ; when unripe, like 
all unripe fruit, it deranges the digestive organs." 



76 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 7. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
A Top Round Beefsteak. Boiled Eggs. 



Fried Hominy. 
Coffee. Strawberries. 

A BEEFSTEAK 

From the round affords more juice than any other 
cut. If you know how to market (and I am sorry 
to say that housekeepers have to trust too much 
to their provision dealer), select a cut from the 
top of the round, and if not tough you will not 
ask for a nicer, more juicy steak. I have eaten it 
so tender and juicy, that I thought it was a nice 
rump steak. It makes an inexpensive breakfast, 
being much cheaper per pound than other beef- 
steaks. 

BOILED EGGS. 
This, beyond question, is the most popular way 
of serving eggs, for which I give an approved 
French method. Have ready a saucepan of boiling 
water. Place in it fresh eggs. Put on the lid 
of saucepan and set on the stove where it will 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 77 

keep boiling hot, but not boil. Let the eggs 
remain six or eight minutes, or as suits your 
guests. Serve in a napkin, on a dish, folding it 
over to retain the heat, or use a covered egg dish. 

FRIED HOMINY. 

Cook your hominy as in Breakfast ISToo 6. 
Moukl it in a small oblong tin pan. There is a 
size, which will give you slices just square when 
cut. Wet the pan with cold water to prevent its 
sticking. When cold cut in slices nearly an inch 
thick, flour each side, and fry a nice brown, on 
the griddle, in a little butter or sweet drippings. 
It should be cooked the day previous. 

STRAWBERRIES. 

If the system is more or less feverish, and such 
is the case usually with most people, nothing can 
be more refreshing and cooling than ripe straw- 
berries. They are a great preservative against 
the heating influence of meats in hot weather. 
'Tis said that the strawberry is the most whole- 
some of all fruits, being easy of digestion, and 
never growing acid by fermentation on the stom- 
ach, as most other fruits do. 



78 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 8. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Beefsteak. Squash Biscuit. 



Baked Apple Sauce. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

SQUASH BISCUIT. 

These dainty biscuit always meet with a warm 
reception. When in perfection, they are fit to set 
before a king. 

One and a half cups of sifted squash. 

Half a teacup of sugar. 

Half a teaspoon of salt. 

One heaping spoonful of butter, creamed. 

One cupful of scalded milk. 

Half a cake of compressed yeast. 

Flour enough to make a bread batter. 

Mix these ingredients, and add the yeast, which 
has been dissolved in a scant cup of warm water. 
Stir in flour enough to make a soft dough. Knead 
twenty minutes. In the morning, knead the second 
time, make into flat biscuit and rise one hour. 
Bake half an hour. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 79 



BREAKFAST No. 9. 



Oatmeal Mush. 

Beefsteak a la Frying Pan. Indian Sponge Cake. 

Cucumbers. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

BEEFSTEAK A LA FRYING PAN. 

If you have no conveniences for broiling, the 
next best thing is to substitute the frying pan, 
which is broihng by coming in contact with a hot 
iron. Heat the frying pan hot, grease it with a 
little of the fot cut from the steak, just enough 
to prevent it from sticking. When the steak 
touches the pan, it adheres, but in a second it 
loosens. Keep it covered, at the same time turn 
it often. Season the usual way. 

Or you can make a nice gravy which many like. 
Into the same pan put half a cup of water. Make 
a smooth thickening of half a teaspoonful of flour, 
add this and boil it a minute. When done, stir in 
a spoonful of butter. Pour this over the steak 
and serve immediately. 



80 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

INDIAN SPONGE CAKE. 

Two cups of com meal. 

One cup of flour. 

One teaspoon of soda. 

One teaspoon of salt. 

Half a cup of creamed butter. 

Three esfo^s. 

Two cups of rich sour milk. 

Sift flour, meal, soda and salt together. Beat 
the eo^ofs and suo;ar tos^ether. Make a hollow in 
the flour and pour in the egg mixture and butter. 
Lastly the sour milk, thoroughly mixing the 
whole. Bake at once in a loaf or flat tin pans. 

CUCUMBERS. 

The art of preparing cucumbers consists in their 
being crisp and cool. They should be put into 
very cold water or on ice. Half an hour before 
eating, peel and slice them, leaving them in ice 
water till breakfast is ready. Then drain theni; 
and season to taste. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 81 

BREAKFAST No. 10. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Beefsteak. Plain Omelette. 



Huckleberry Shortcake. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

PLAIN OMELETTE. 
(See Breakfast No. 87.) 



HUCKLEBERRY SHORT CAKE. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One large pint of berries. 

Half a cup of creamed butter. 

Half a cup or more of sugar. 

Two eggs ; two cups of sour milk. 
Sift soda and salt with the flour. Mix berries 
with the flour, coating ever}^ berry so as to be 
separate. Beat the eggs and mix with the 1)utter 
and sugar. ]Make a hollow in the middle of the 
flour and pour in the mixture, then the sour milk. 
Stir all carefully together, else you will mash the 
berries. Bake in pans, three-quarters full. 



82 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 11. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Beefsteak. Corn Oysters. 



Sally Lunn Cake. 
Coffee. Watermelon. 

CORN OYSTERS 

Are made in this way. Mix with a pint of grated 
green corn, three tablepoonsfiils of milk, two or 
three beaten eggs and a lieaping spoonful of flour. 
They are not as nice with too much flour. Season 
lightly with pepper and salt. Drop it by dessert 
spoonfuls into a little hot butter on a griddle. 
Brown on both sides and serve on a hot platter. 
They have much the flavor of fried oysters. 



SALLY LUNN CAKE. 

This genuine old-fashioned Sally Lunn cake, 
named after the inventor, will hardly give place 
to any of the recent compounds of the saire name. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 83 



When hot and well buttered, it is a favorite break- 
fast cake. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

One teaspoon of salt. 

Half a cake of compressed, 

Or half a cup of lively liquid yeast. 

Two eggs. 

Two tablespoons of white sugar. 

One pint of warm milk. 

Mix the salt with the flour. Add the yeast 
dissolved in three tablespoons of warm water, and 
gradually the milk, which, if scalded, will not be 
so likely to sour. Beat the yolks of the eggs, 
then the whites, then both together with the sugar, 
and stir into the batter. Beat the whole till 
smooth. This should be a soft dough that you can 
comfortably stir, not pour. Set this to rise over 
night. Early in the morning, when well risen, 
cream a piece of butter the size of a large egg, 
and dissolve half a teaspoon of soda in very 
little warm water. Mingle these with the dough. 
Butter your baking pans, till them two inches 
deep, and rise till their size is doubled. Bake 
half an hour. This cake should be broken when 
served, and not cut with a knife. 



84 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 12. 



Oatmeal Mush. 



Beefsteak. Short Cake Toast. 



Stewed Prunes. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit, 

SHORT CAKE TOAST. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

Two teaspooufuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Half a cupful of butter. 

One pint of sweet milk, 

Or very cold water. 

Mix salt, soda, and cream-tartar into flour, per 
rule. Rub the butter into this mixture till dry 
and poAvdery. Add the milk, and work the whole 
together. Sprinkle your board with flour, turn 
out the dough, work it very lightly, with as little 
flour as possible, as this should be soft dough. 
Divide your dough into three or four parts. Roll 
each part nearly half an inch thick, and fit to 
oblong sheet pans. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 85 

When baked, and nicely browned, cut into 
squares, split each, butter while hot, and place 
them in a pile, like toast. Serve at once. 

STEWED PRUNES. 

Wash them. They should be stewed in a por- 
celain kettle, and just covered with boiling water. 
When covered closely, let them simmer till swollen 
and tender. Do not let them break. When about 
half done, add a tablespoonful of sugar to a quart 
of prunes. For breakfast, they should not be 
very sweet. Cook the day previous, for break- 
fast. 



BREAKFAST No. 13. 

Oatmeal Mush, 
Beefsteak. Fried Onions. Corn Cake. 



Sweet Pickled Beets. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

• FRIED ONIONS. 
This dish is said to have extraordinary sanitary 
merits, and is regarded w^ith high favor by many, 
while others, of more refined sensibilities, regard 



SQ WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

it with disgust, and do not think it a permissible 
dish. 

Peel and slice your onions, put them into a 
frying-pan with leaf drippings and a very little 
water. Do not have them too fat, but use only 
drippings enough to relish them. Fry till tender, 
turning often, until a uniform brown. Season 
with salt. 

CORN CAKES. 
(See Breakfast No. 9.) 

SWEET PICKLED BEETS. 

These are simply made, by boiling together a 
little vinegar and sugar, and pouring it over a few 
sliced, boiled beets. They will pickle sufficiently 
in twelve hours. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 87 



BREAKFAST No. 14. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Beefsteak. Huckleberry Muffins. 



Boiled Eggs. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

HUCKLEBERRY MUFFINS. 

Just three and a half cups of sifted flour. 

Just half a cup of Indian meal. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One heaping spoonful of butter. 

Half a cup of white sugar. 

Two eofo^s. 

CO 

Two cups of nicely-soured milk. 
One pint and a half of berries. 

Mix soda and salt w^ith flour and meal, cream 
the butter, beat the eggs, and with the sugar add- 
to the flour. Mix all together till smooth. When 
mixed, carefully add the berries without mashing. 
Bake in muffin-pans. 



88 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKTAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 15. 



Oatmeal Mush. 
Oven-broiled Beefsteak. Parker-House Biscuit. 



Green Corn on the Cob. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

OVEN-BROILED BEEFSTEAK. 

Try this labor-saving experiment, and, like 
others, you may sanction it. Perchance, if not 
apprised, you might not suspect that your steak 
was not gridiron-broiled. To begin, your oven 
must be very, very hot, else you will lose the 
juice of your steak. A moderate oven would ruin 
it, for, to be in perfection, it must be quickly 
seared with heat. Other principles are the same 
as for gridiron-broiling. 

Lay your steak into a dripping-pan large enough 
to hold it without condensing. Set it in a hot 
oven. If thick, it will need to remain ten min- 
utes, according to the doneness you prefer. When 
done, season to taste, and serve on a hot platter. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 89 



PARKER-HOUSE BISCUIT. 

One quart of sifted flour. 
One pint of warm scalded milk. 
One tablespoonful of white sugar. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Butter, the size of an egg. 
Half a cake of compressed, 
Or half a cup of liquid yeast. 

Sift the flour into a deep pan, and make a hol- 
low in the middle of it. Put in the other ingre- 
dients, in the following order : Sugar, butter, 
which must be creamed, milk, and yeast. Do not 
stir these, after putting them together. For 
breakfast, arrange this about two o'clock in the 
afternoon, and set it in a temperature of sixty 
degrees. In the evening, mix all together, and 
knead fifteen minutes. Let it rise over night. In 
the morning, cut out the biscuit, set each one 
apart from his neighbor, and, when suflaciently 
risen, bake fifteen minutes. 

GREEN CORN. 
This is very acceptable in the country, where 
corn can be freshly and easily obtained. Boil twen- 
ty minutes. The milk should be well developed 
in the kernels, or no nourishment will be effected. 



90 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 16. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Beefsteak. Flour and Indian Waffles, 



Baked Apple Sauce. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

FLOUR AND INDIAN WAFFLES. 

Two and a half cups of sifted flour. 

Half a cup of Indian meal. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One heaping tablespoonful of butter. 

Two eo^o^s. 

Two cups of rich sour milk. 

Mix salt and soda with flour and meal. Cream 
the butter. Beat the eo^o^s. Make a hollow in 
the middle of the flour, and pour these into it ; 
lastly the sour milk, stirring the whole to a smooth 
batter. Heat the Avaffle irons, butter them well, 
fill three-quarters full, and bake over a clear and 
steady fire. They should be evenly browned, and 
not scorched. 



BEEFSTEAK BREAKFASTS. 91 

BREAKFAST No. 17. 

Shredded Raw Beefsteak. 



Dropped Eggs. Jelly. 

Tea, Cocoa, or Coffee. 

Ripe Fruit. 

SHREDDED RAW BEEFSTEAK. 

This nutritious dish, when accompanied with an 
egg and calf's-foot jelly, is exceedingly tempting 
to a capricious appetite. Shred the beef with a 
beef-shredder. Eemove every particle of skin and 
fat. Mix it with oatmeal cracker crumbs. Sea- 
son to taste. 

DROPPED EGGS. 
(See Breakfast No. 1.) 

TEA. 

Tea and coffee, when not taken to excess, are 
harmless ; when used immoderately, they are de- 
cidedly injurious. Says a learned Chinese pro- 
fessor, " When tea is taken in moderate quantities, 
it has a soothing influence, refreshing the body, 
awakening thought, clearing perception, and pre- 



92 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

venting drowsiness. But when taken in excess, it 
produces nervous tremblings, the heart beats 
stronger, the pulse becomes more frequent, the 
thoughts wander, and a peculiar state of intoxica- 
tion comes. Beware of an overdose." 

An earthen teapot is more wholesome for 
steeping tea than tin. The water of which it is 
made should always be freshly boiled, and boiling 
hot when added to the tea ; the tea-pot rinsed and 
scalded each time that tea is made. Many a nice 
cup of tea' has been spoiled by not scalding the 
teapot. 



SECTION IV. 

COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 



COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 95 



IV. 

COLD BEEF UTILIZED. 

Much of the cold beef left from dinners and 
thrown away as w^orthless, could be reproduced 
upon the breakfast ta])le w^ith satisfaction to 
guests, if tastefully prepared and accompanied 
with harmonious dishes. 



BREAKFAST No. 18. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Delmonico's Corned Beef Hash. Corn Bread Loaf. 



Sweet Pickled Beets. 



Ripe Fruit. 

Althouirh corned beef hash is verv ancient, it 
has stood the test of time, and when well prepared 
is much esteemed, and is by no means despised at 
Delmonico's. 

There are many ways of spoiling it. First, by 
frying instead of heating it. Second, by dredging 
Hour into it, which imparts a raw taste like dough. 
Third, by using too much water, which makes it 
insipid. Fourth, by using too much fat or gravy, 
which spoils its delicacy. Lastly, by burning it, 
which gives it a bitter flavor. 



96 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



DELMONICO'S CORNED BEEF HASH. 

Chop cold corned beef rather fine, but not too 
fine. Chop, not mash, about one-third as large a 
quantity of cold boiled potatoes. They are not as 
nice for beef hash when hot, and if either potatoes 
or meat are chopped too fine, your hash will be 
salvy. Have it neither dry nor watery, but moist. 
Cover it close and heat a few minutes. When 
hot, if no gravy has been used, stir into it a little 
butter. Serve on a hot dish. 

Many think the perfection of corned beef hash 
is to chop a boiled beet with it. This is very 
good when made in right proportions and not too 
much beet. You do not need quite as much 
potato when beet is added. In this case you omit 
the pickled beet, and provide a substitute. 

CORN BREAD LOAF. 
Two cups of yellow meal. 
One cup of flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 
One teaspoonful of soda. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Two esrars. 
Half a cup of sugar. 
One heaping tablespoon of solid butter. 
Two cups of rich sweet milk. 



COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 97 

Mix salt, soda, and cream-tartar with flour and 
meal, according to the rule already given. Cream 
the butter. Beat sugar and eggs together. Add 
all to the mixture. Lastly, stir in the milk, and 
beat the whole a few minutes. "This loaf is best 
when baked in round sheet-iron pans that are four 
inches deep. The loaf should be that thickness 
when baked. When served cut it pie-fashion if 
baked in round pans." 



BREAKFAST No. 19. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Roast Beef Hash. Parker House Biscuit. 



Warmed-up" Potatoes. Cabbage Salad. 



Coffee. 

ROAST BEEF HASH. 
Chop fine, moisten with some of the remaining 
gravy, and heat hot, but do not stew it. All 
meats, when reheated, should be done quickly, or 
they will be oily and unpalatable. 

*'^WARMED-UP" POTATOES. 
Cut each potato into lengthwise slices. Fry 
them a nice brown on each side in a little beef 
drippings. 



98 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



CABBAGE SALAD. 

This nitrogenous and herbaceous vegetable, 
when eaten raw, is easily digested, and should be 
often seen upon our tables. It should be sliced 
very fine or chopped, and demands sugar and 
vinegar to be palatable. 



BREAKFAST No. 20. 

* Hominy and Milk. 

Baked Potatoes. Cream-tartar Biscuit. 



Sweet Pickled Beets. Coffee. 

SLICED COLD CORN BEEF. 

Cold corned beef, with harmonious accompani- 
ments, makes a nice and convenient breakfast. 
After all the bones are removed, it should be 
pressed in a "brick loaf" pan over night and 
evenly sliced for breakfast in the morning. 

CREAM-TARTAR BISCUIT. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One pint of milk. 



COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 99 

Mix salt, soda, and cream-tartar with flour. 
"Add the milk and thoroughly stir so that the 
alkali may evenly efiervesce. Dredge your board, 
turn the dough upon it, which quickly bring into 
a body without kneading it at all, as the success 
depends upon the rapid mixing and baking. Roll 
lightly into a sheet an inch thick. Cut into 
rounds with a small tin biscuit cutter. Bake in a 
quick oven. 



BREAKFAST No. 21. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Sliced Cold Roast Beef. Canned Corn Oysters. 



Baked Potatoes. Raised Waffles. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

For many, there is no nicer breakfast than cold 
roast beef. When accompanied with corn oysters, 
baked potatoes and waffles, it should not fail to 
satisfy. 

CANNED CORN OYSTERS. 

The inventor of canning has put us in possession 
of green corn every month in the year. Although 



100 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

we cannot perfectly recognize our dainty and 
succulent green corn of summer, yet by largely 
drawing on faith we forget the discount and get 
the whole of that asrreeable veofetable when out 
of season. When made into corn oysters, it is 
graciously accepted at the breakfast table. For 
directions, see corn oysters. 

RAISED WAFFLES. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Nearly a quart of warm milk. 

Half a cake of compressed yeast, 

Or half a cup of liquid yeast. 

One tablespoonful of creamed butter. 

Put the salt, butter, yeast and warm milk into 
the middle of the flour. Mix to a batter, and set 
to rise over night. In the morning, when ready 
to bake, beat two or three eggs, then beat them to 
the batter. Dissolve half a teaspoon of soda in a 
very little warm water and stir throughout at the 
last moment. Heat the waflie irons, butter them 
well, and fill nearly three-quarters full. Brown 
them evenly on both sides. Do not scorch them. 



COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 101 

BREAKFAST No. 22. 

Roast Beef and Barley Stew. 



Cream-tartar Biscuit. Coffee. 



Country Griddle Cakes. Stewed Prunes. 



ROAST BEEF AND BARLEY STEW. 

To a pint of cold roast beef when cut into slices, 
add a cup of boiled barley, three or four slices of 
cold boiled potatoes, and a grain of salt. Put all 
into a stewpan with nearly two cups of water. 
Simmer ten minutes. Or you can substitute 
boiled cracked wheat. Very nice. 

COUNTRY GRIDDLE CAKES. 

One pint of sifted flour. 

One teaspoon of salt. 

One scant pint of sour milk or cream. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Make a smooth batter of flour and milk. Beat 
this until a lightness is evident. Now dissolve the 
soda in a very little warm water and beat it into 
the batter. Have the griddle hot and greased all 



102 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

over with butter. Drop your batter in spoonfuls 
well apart, on the griddle. When the cakes 
bubble all over, slip your griddle-spade under 
each cake and turn quickly. Bake the other side, 
and when done send to the table quickly on a hot 
plate. Send only one batch at a time. They 
should be eaten as quickly as possible from the 
griddle. 



BREAKFAST No. 23. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Fried Liver. Fried Apples. 



Corn Bread Loaf. Coffee. 

FRIED LIVER. 

Fried liver is a favorite with many. It should 
not be strongly urged, yet it is better than no 
meat. Have your beef drippings boiling hot when 
the liver is put into it, or it will soak fat. It 
needs to be well cooked, though not to a crisp, 
which makes it juiceless. 

FRIED APPLES 

Are an acceptable companion for liver. Do not 
pare them, but preserve the form of the slices 



COLD BEEF BREAKFASTS. 103 

with the paring. Add a spoonful of water, some 
of the liver gravy, cover closely and fry without 
stirring. When nearly done, add a little Porto 
Eico molasses. 



SECTION V. 

VENISON BREAKFASTS. 



VENISON BREAKFASTS. 107 

V. 

VENISON BREAKFASTS. 

Deer have the zoological marks which distin- 
guish them from mi wholesome animals, conse- 
quently venison can be eaten with a clear con- 
science. It is toothsome, strengthening, and easily 
digested. 



BREAKFAST No. 24. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Venison Steak. Currant Jelly. 



Rice Waffles. Ripe Fruit. 



Coffee. 

Venison takes a few minutes longer to broil than 
beefsteak. Have your fire clear and hot. Broil 
rapidly, turning often. Observe the same rules 
as for beefsteak, so as not to lose a drop of juice. 
Have ready a hot platter on which are a few bits 
of butter. When done, lay your steak on the 
butter, turning it over and salting it on each side, 
adding a little currant jelly. 



108 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



RICE WAFFLES. 

One cupful of boiled rice. 

Three eggs. 

One heaping teaspoon of broken butter. 

One saltspoon of salt. 

Two cupsful of sour milk. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Separate the grains of rice, cream the butter, 
beat the eggs, and stir those together. Dissolve 
the soda in a very little warm water, which stir to 
the milk and add to the mixture. Stir in flour 
enough to make a thick batter. 

Have the waffle irons hot and greased with 
butter. Fill them three-quarters full. Be careful 
not to burn them. Bake the first side before 
turning. 



VENISON BREAKFASTS. 109 



BREAKFAST No. 25. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Venison Hash on Toast. Rice Croquettes. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

Chop remnants of cold roast venison as for 
roast beef hash. Add to it a little of the venison 
gravy. Do not have it watery, only moist. Heat 
hot, but do not stew it. Serve hot. 

RICE CROQUETTES. 
Eoll boiled rice into little balls, then flatten 
them. Coat with eggs and cracker crumbs. Bake 
on a griddle, greased with butter. 



110 ^VHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST, 



BREAKFAST No. 26. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Venison Rolls. Buttered Toast. 



Tomato Sauce, or Currant Jelly. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

When beautifully cooked, this breakfast van- 
ishes like a vision. Have venison steaks cut thin. 
Trim off the fat. Mix together, one teaspoonful 
of salt, one of thyme or summer savory, and one 
saltspoon of pepper. Sprinkle this seasoning over 
the steaks, roll them tightly and tie. Lay them 
on a trivet or stand, fitted into a roasting pan. 
Have a hot oven, that the surface may soon sear 
and securely hold the juices. Bake half an hour 
or more. These are quite as nice as sausages, and 
you are certain of what you are eating. 

N. B. — When a dish is repeated, and no refer- 
ence made to it, its directions can easily be found 
by referring to the preface. 



SECTION VI. 

MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 113 



VI. 

MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 

Sheep literally fulfil the required terms of the 
Bible's sanitary laws. They are exclusively con- 
fined to vegetable food, which makes mutton and 
lamb wholesome and agreeable. 



BREAKFAST No. 27. 



Oatmeal Mush. 
Broiled Mutton Chops. Graham Puffs. 



Baked Potatoes. Sliced Tomatoes. 



Coffee. 

BROILED MUTTON CHOPS 
Are especially nice when broiled in perfection. 
The gridiron must first be warmed, or the chop 
will stick to the bars. A fine chop is full of juice, 
and none of it should be wasted. The heat of the 
fire should be so great that it will instantly harden 
the outside of the meat so that the juices cannot 



114 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

run out. Never stick a fork into a chop, as it lets 
out the juice. When done, salt, and butter. 
Serve hot. 

GRAHAM PUFFS. 
One cup and a half Graham flour. 
One cup of flour. 
Two teaspoonfuls of sugar. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Two liberal cups of sweet milk. 
Three eggs. 

Mix salt with the flour. Beat up a batter with 
the flour and milk. Beat the yolks of the eggs to 
a froth. Beat the whites till stiff". Beat the 
yolks, then the whites into the batter. Bake in 
buttered stone cups half an hour or more. Use 
your judgment and do not keep them in too long. 
When done they will be well popped over. Keep 
the oven closed as much as possible. 

Ignorant cooks often spoil this simple and 
delicate cake by persisting to use baking powders 
or soda. They cannot believe they will rise with- 
out them. 

SLICED TOMATOES. 
These are a favorite complement to chops. 
Select the fairest ripe ones. Scald and peel them. 
When cold, slice them. Dress with vinegar, 
pepper and salt to taste. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 115 

BREAKFAST No. 28. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Broiled Lamb Chops. Breakfast Puffs. 



Tomato Sauce. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

LAMB CHOPS 
Are a convenient, simple, and dainty breakfast, 
being readily accomplished, requiring only nicety 
and attention. Broil the same as mutton chops. 
(See Breakfast No. 27.) 

BREAKFAST PUFFS. 
Two cups of flour. 
Two cups of sweet milk. 
Two eo'srs. 
One salt-spoon of salt. 

Beat up a batter with the flour and milk. Add 
salt. Beat the yolks and whites of eggs sepa- 
rately and thoroughly. Then beat them separately 
to the batter. Fill gem-pans or stone cups a little 
more than half full. Have a quick oven. Some- 
times half an hour bakes them, but often it takes 
more. When done, they will be evenly browned, 
and well popped over. 



116 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 29. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Fried Breaded Mutton Chops. 



Raised Graham Muffins. Baked Potatoes. 



Broiled Tomatoes. Coffee. 

FRIED BREADED MUTTON CHOPS. 

This is an admirable breakfast, when served dry 
and hot. Trim off the superfluous skin and fat, 
to give the chops an elegant appearance. Dip 
each chop in beaten egg, then roll it in powdered 
crackers. Meantime, have the superfluous fat 
tried out in a frying-pan, and, when boiling hot, 
lay the chops into it, and fry. Use as little fat as 
possible. 

RAISED GRAHAM MUFFINS. 

Two cupfuls of Graham meal, unsifted. 

One cupful of white flour. 

Two cupfuls of sweet milk or warm water. 

Two tablespoonfuls of Porto Rico Molasses. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Half a cake of compressed, 

Or half a cup of liquid yeast. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 117 

Mix flour, meal, and salt. Scald the milk, and, 
when at blood heat, pour into the middle of the 
flom\ Dissolve yeast, and with the molasses add 
to the mixture. Beat all thoroughly to a batter 
dough. When well mixed, set it in a temperature 
of about sixty-five degrees over night. Graham 
sponge sours more quickly than white, and should 
not rise in so high a temperature. 

Early in the morning, beat it up well, and let it 
rise again. When about to bake, dissolve half a 
teaspoonful of soda in a very little warm water, 
and thoroughly incorporate it with the batter. 
Bake in well-buttered muffin-tins or gem-pans. 
These do not require so hot an oven as white muf- 
fins, but should bake longer. 

BROILED TOMATO. 

Cut each tomato into two slices, without peeling. 
Lay them into a wire gridiron, and broil carefully, 
turning like steak, to keep the juice. Have them 
a nice brown on both sides. When dished, add a 
bit of butter to each. Salt and pepper to taste. 



118 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 30. 

Hominy and Milk. 



Oven-broiled Mutton Chops. Baked Potatoes. 



Graham Biscuit. Tomato Sauce. 



Coffee. 

If you try this labor-saving experiment, you 
may conclude that your mutton chops are only in 
perfection when oven-broiled. Trim the chops, 
but not so much as to make them entirely deficient 
in fat. Lay them in a meat-pan, and broil in a 
quick oven. A slow oven would spoil them. Do 
not broil them too long. Season and serve. 

GRAHAM BISCUIT. 

The preceding Graham muffin receipt makes a 
nice biscuit mixture. Observe its full direc- 
tions. The usual failure in Graham biscuit is 
generally caused by kneading in too much flour. 
They should be made less stiflf than white biscuit, 
and kneaded just as soft as possible. Prick the 
biscuit with a fork, to prevent the crust from 
binding. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BEEAKFASTS. 119 



BREAKFAST No. 31. 



Whole Wheat. 



Minced Lamb. Boiled Eggs. 



Cracked Wheat Griddle Cakes. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

'V\nien well gotten, this dainty and nourishing 
breakfast is fit to set before a sovereign. 

MINCED LAMB. 

Mince fine, cold roast lamb. Moisten it with a 
very little of the gravy. Simmer till hot. If 
you have no gravy, add a little water instead, and, 
when hot, add a bit of butter. Do not moisten 
it too much. Serve hot. 

CRACKED WHEAT GRIDDLES. 

One cupful of cooked cracked wheat. 

Three eo'crs. 

One heaping teaspoonful of broken butter. 

One saltspoonful of salt. 

Two cups of sour milk. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 



120 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Separate the grains of wheat, add the milk, 
cream the butter, beat the eggs, and stir them 
together. Dissolve the soda in a very little warm 
water, and stir into the mixture, adding flour 
enough to make a griddle batter. Bake on a hot 
griddle, greased with butter. 



BREAKFAST No. 32. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Lamb Fricassee. Raised Biscuit {light as a foam). 



Batced Potatoes. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

LAMB FRICASSEE 

Makes an appetizing and nourishing breakfast. 
Lamb chops are as nice as chicken for a fricas- 
see. Boil them tender in water enough to cover 
them. When done, add to the liquor butter, and 
a little thickening made of flour. Cook all to- 
gether a few minutes ; then dish and pour the 
gravy over it. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BKEAKFASTS. 121 

BREAKFAST No. 33. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Sliced Cold Mutton or Lamb. Baked Potatoes. 



Bread and Butter. 
Buckwheat Cakes. Coffee. 

COLD MUTTON OR LAMB, 
With these accompaniments, makes a nice winter 
breakfast. For summer, a more appropriate cake 
than buckwheat can be substituted. Indian cakes 
are welcome companions with cold roast lamb at 
breakfast. 

BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 

Four cups of warm water. 

Nearly three cupfuls of buckwheat meal. 

Nearly a cup of Indian meal. 

Two tablespoonfuls of nice molasses. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Half a cake of compressed yeast. 

Scald the Indian meal with only water enough 
to swell it. When cool, add this to the buck- 



122 WHAT TO GET FOE BEEAKFAST. 

wheat, and with the measure of warm water, beat 
till all are well mixed. To this, add the salt, mo- 
lasses and yeast, which should be dissolved in a 
little water. Now beat all five or six minutes, and 
set to rise in a warm place, over night. A pitcher, 
is very convenient to fry buckwheats from, which 
should be covered with a thick cloth, over night. 

In the morning beat your batter well and set it 
near the fire for a second rising. Buckwheats are 
not in perfection without soda, which should be 
added whether the cakes are sour or not, but not 
till just before they are baked. When breakfast is 
on the table, dissolve an even teaspoonful of soda 
in a little warm water, stir it well into the batter, 
and bake. Serve them as quick as possible from 
the griddle. 

Indian meal makes buckwheats much more ten- 
der than flour ; they are much better made with 
milk than water. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 123 



BREAKFAST No. 34. 



Oatmeal Mush. 
Egged Mutton Hash. Huckleberry Cake. 



Coffee, or Tea. Ripe Fruit. 

This is a delicious as well as nutritious summer 
breakfast. To tliree cupfuls of finely chopped 
mutton or lamb, add two tablespoonfuls of hot 
water. Break into it three eggs and stir all to- 
gether. When the eggs are sufficiently cooked, 
add a spoonful of butter, and thoroughly mix. 
Serve quickly. 

HUCKLEBERRY CAKE. 
(See Breakfast No. 10.) 

Obs. — Dressed lettuce is a favorite companion 
for any dish of mutton. 



124 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 35. 



Whole Wheat. 



Minced Mutton, Eggs and Rice. 



Huckleberry Cake. Cocoa or Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

Minced mutton, eggs and rice, make a palatable 
summer breakfast. Chop remnants of mutton fine, 
add a very little hot water. Have nearly the 
same quantity of rice, allowing one egg to each 
cupful of minced mutton. Mix all together, and 
heat till the eggs are cooked, when stir in a piece 
of butter, enough for the quantity. Serve 
quickly. 



MUTTON AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 125 



BREAKFAST No. 36. 

Oatmeal Jelly. 
Steamed Mutton Mince. Egg Toast. 



Cocoa or Tea. Ripe Fruit. 

OATMEAL JELLY. 

Soak a cupful of nice oatmeal in one pint and a 
half of water over nio^ht. In the morninof strain 
off the liquid through a sieve and boil it fifteen 
minutes. Turn it into the moulds, set it in a cool 
closet, and in twenty minutes it will jelly and be 
sufficiently warm to eat. Serve with sugar and 
cream, or sweetened fruit juice. 

STEAMED MUTTON MINCE. 

Take raw, fresh, and lean mutton or lamb. Ee- 
move the flesh from the bone. Chop the lean very 
fine. Flavor with salt, pepper, or a green bay 
leaf. Steam the mince half an hour in a farina 
boiler, in a few spoonfuls of water. When done, 
add a small bit of butter. Serve hot. This is an 
appetizing and nutritious breakfast for an invalid. 



SECTION yn. 

VEAL BREAKFASTS. 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 129 



vn. 

VEAL. 

The Bible establishes the eating of veal. " And 
bring hither the fatted calf and kill it." 

" And Abraham ran into the herd, and fetched a 
calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young 
man, and he hasted to dress it." 

Beware of eating too young veal. Nowadays 
it is sent to the market very young, for the reason 
that it is not so remunerative as the cow's milk. 
'Tis said many diseases, especially in children, 
come from eating too young veal. In earlier times 
it was thought that veal was not eatable before it 
was four or five weeks old. It is very easy to 
know when it is too young, as the bones are very 
tender and like nerves. 



130 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 37. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Veal Fricassee. Baked Potatoes. 



Biscuit {light as a foam). Caf^ au lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

VEAL FRICASSEE. 

Cut veal into pieces of two inches, and stew till 
tender as chicken. Do not use more water than 
is necessary to cover it. Just before dishing for 
the table, add a smooth thickening, and a piece of 
butter. Stir these evenly into the gravy, and 
simmer two minutes before serving. 

CAFE AU LAIT. 

Americans are very ambitious of French names, 
and cafe au lait is being domesticated in their 
kitchens. Its French name sounds new to many, 
yet it is a very ancient method of preparing coffee. 
In bygone days my grandmother, and later my 
mother, when there was milk to spare, often made 
our coffee half milk, which the French call cafe 
au lait. 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 181 

To half a coffee-pot of boiling hot (3offee, add 
enough hot milk to iill the coffee-pot. Do not 
boil the milk, it will give it an unpleasant flavor; 
only heat it hot. Dehcious I 



BREAKFAST No. 38, 



Oatmeal Mush. 
Veal Stew. Corn Meal Sponge Cake. 



Bread and Butter. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

VEAL STEW. 

Cut veal in small pieces, not over an inch square. 
Cover with cold water. See that the water is kept 
at the same level, by adding hot water as it boils 
away. Stew till tender. Before done, have ready 
potatoes enough for the quantity of veal, peeled 
and sliced. Add these to the stew. When done, 
add a little smooth thickening, a bit of butter, and 
let all come to a boil. Serve hot. 



O 



132 AVHAT TO GET FOE BKEAKFAST. 

CORN MEAL SPONGE CAKE, NO. 2. 

Two cupfuls of Indian meal. 

One cup of flour. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Three eggs. 

One spoonful of white sugar. 

Two spoonfuls of creamed butter. 

Two cupfuls of sweet milk. 



Add soda, cream-tartar, and salt to flour. Beat 
the eo:o:s and suo'ar too^ether, and with the ci^eamed 
butter stir to the meal and flour. Lastly, add the 
milk, which thoroughly incorporate. Bake in 
Washington pie plates, well buttered. Have a 
moderately quick oven. 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 133 



BREAKFAST No. 39. 

Cracked Wheat. 

Veal Hash. Poached Eggs. 

Buttered Toast. 

Coffee. Sliced Oranges. 

This simple breakfast is very appetizing when 
well gotten. Chop cold veal very fine ; put it 
into a saucepan with only gravy enough to moisten 
it. If you have no gravy, use a little water in- 
stead, and add a bit of butter before dishino- it. 
Simmer till hot. It should be dry enough to heap 
into shape on the platter. Prepare your eggs and 
toast as in breakfast No. 1. 

SLICED ORANGES. 
Persons of refined sensibilities are disturbed by 
the derangement of orange-peel at the breakfast- 
table. This may be avoided by serving them 
sliced and sugared. Slice peeled oranges. Fill a 
dish with alternate slices of oran2:e and suo;ar. 



134 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 40. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Scalloped Veal. Boiled Eggs. 



Cream Toast. 
Coffee. Bananas. 

If any breakfast will develop your capabilities 
it is No. 40. Should you succeed with this, you 
can have faith in your abilities hereafter. 

SCALLOPED VEAL. 

Many think this the best way to serve fragments 
of veal. Chop cold roast or stewed veal very 
fine. Butter a round, deep, baking-tin. Put a 
layer of veal in the bottom, next a layer of pow- 
dered crackers or dry bread. Alternate these 
until the pan is full, having a thick layer of crumbs 
on the top. Moisten each layer with a little of 
the gravy, if any remains from the roast veal, 
otherwise strew tiny bits of butter on each layer 
of veal, and moisten with water. Cover with a 
tin plate. If small, bake nearly half an hour, if 
large, three-quarters. Do not get it so moist that 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 135 



it will not retain its form, when inverted on a 
platter. The meat and cracker can be prepared 



over night. 



CREAM TOAST. 
Toast bread to a golden brown. Scald your 
milk in a farina boiler. When scalding hot, thicken 
it with a very little corn starch or flour dissolved 
smooth in a little cold water. Do not make starch 
of it. I have eaten it so thick with flour that it 
tasted like starch. Be sure your milk is scalding 
hot, when you add your thickening, which pour 
into the middle of the milk, stirring it gently till 
all is thickened. After simmering till there is no 
raw taste of the flour, add a little butter and stir it 
through the milk. Have your toast ready. Lay 
a few slices on a deep dish, pour over them some 
of the hot cream, then lay on a few more slices 
and pour over again. Lift the lower slices, one by 
one, that the creamy mixture may run between. 
Reserve a surplus to pour over the whole. Serve 
as soon as finished. 



136 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 41. 

Hominy and Milk. 



Oven-broiled Veal Cutlets. Baked Potatoes. 



Corn Meal Raised Muffins. 
Water-Cress Salad. Coffee. 

OVEN-BROILED VEAL CUTLETS. 
Veal steaks can be broiled in the oven with bet- 
ter effect than over the fire. The oven should be 
as hot as for baking meat, otherwise you will dry 
and spoil them. When oven-broiled, they get 
cooked more thoroughly, and few people are fond 
of rare veal. Lay the steaks in the bake-pan, using 
a very little of the fat, only enough to keep them 
from sticking and scorching. Fit a tin plate closely 
over them, to keep them steaming while baking. 
When done, if there is any fat, drain it from them. 
Season with salt and butter, the same as for other 
broiled steaks. 

CORN-MEAL RAISED MUFFINS. 
One pint of sweet milk, or warm water. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
One cupful of flour. 
One heaping tablespoonful of sugar. 
Half a cake of compressed yeast. 



VEAL BKEAKFASTS. 137 

Add Indian meal enough to make a thick batter. 
Else over night. In the morning, when ready to 
bake, add half a teaspoon of soda, dissolved in a 
little warm w^ater, and with a tablespoonful of 
melted butter, mix throughout the batter. Bake 
in muffin-tins. Yeast muffins have the advantage 
of soda muffins, as they are not heavy when cold, 
but palatable. 

WATER-CRESS SALAD. 
Like the tomato, this vegetable possesses the 
double quality of food and medicine. " According 
to analysis by M. Chatin, Director of the School of 
Pharmacy, Paris, water-cress contains iron, iodine, 
phosphates, and other salts. As a medicine, it has 
been vaunted for its efficacy in all cases of weak 
digestion, and has been prescribed for scrofula and 
phthisis. For food, it ought to be used in its 
green or uncooked state, in the form of salad or 
without any seasoning." 



138 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 42. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Egged Veal Hash. Creamed Potatoes, 



Sponge Corn Cake Muffins. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

EGGED VEAL HASH. 

Chop fine remnants of cold roast veal. Moisten 
with the gravy or water. When hot, break into 
it three or four eggs, according to the quantity of 
veal. When the eggs are cooked, stir into it a 
spoonful of butter, and serve quickly. If to your 
taste, shake in a little parsley. Should you lack 
quantity, half a cup of fine stale bread crumbs are 
no disadvantage. 

CREAMED POTATOES. 

Slice cold boiled potatoes ; season with salt. 
Add cream, and heat them in a double boiler. Do 
not break or stir them. 

SPONGE CORN CAKE MUFFINS. 
The same receipt as for sponge corn cake in 
Breakfast No. 9. 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 139 

BREAKFAST No. 43. 

Cracked Wheat and Cream. 



Sweetbread Fricassee. Toasted Oatmeal Crackers, 



Or, "Butter" Crackers. 
Cocoa or Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

SWEETBREAD FRICASSEE. 
Carefully wash and remove all the thin skin in 
which the sweetbreads are wrapped, drawhig oat that 
between the divisions. Put them into enous^h cold 
water to cover them, and set over the fire. When 
they have boiled fifteen minutes, take out and lay 
them in cold water for ten minutes. This Avill make 
them firm and white. Keep the water they Avere 
boiled in hot, and after laying ten minutes in cold 
water, put them back again into the hot water, and 
let them come to a boil. For two or three sweet- 
breads, allow a cupful of gravy. Cream a heap- 
ing dessert-spoonful of butter and stir into it half 
a teaspoonful of cornstarch. Add this to the gravy 
and simmer a minute. Dish the sweetbreads, and 
pour the gravy over them. 



140 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKTAST. 

TOASTED CRACKERS. 

Toast crackers a nice brown. Dip them quickly 
into hot water ; don't let them remain a moment. 
Now lay them on a dish, and pour to them a little 
of the sweetbread gravy. 



BREAKFAST No. 44. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Fricassee of Tripe. Baked Potatoes. 



Cold Bread. Graham Meal Griddles. 



Coffee. 



This breakfast was overlooked. It properly 



belongs in the beef division. 



FRICASSEE OF TRIPE. 

Cut tripe into pieces about two inches square. 
Put into a spider with water enough to make a 
gravy. When hot, add butter and a little thicken- 
ing, mixed smoothly. Let all come to a boil. 
Dish the tripe, and serve with the gravy poured 
over it. 



^ 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 141 

GRAHAM MEAL GRIDDLES. 

One quart of sweet milk. 
Two caps of Graham flour. 
One cup of white flour. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Two spoonfuls of nice molasses. 
Half a cake of compressed, 
Or, half a cup of fluid yeast. 

Stir the milk to the Graham and flour. Add 
salt, molasses, and yeast. Beat all together, and 
rise in a warm place over night. In the morning 
beat well and set near the fire for a second rising. 
When everything is ready for breakfast, dissolve 
half a teaspoonful of soda and stir into it. Bake 
them on a griddle greased only enough to keep 
them from sticking. Bake both sides a nice brown. 
Do not turn them twice. Serve only a few at a 
time. 

These are much more nourishing and wholesome 
than any buckwheat griddles. Those who indulge 
in buckwheat will be wise to substitute Graham. 



SBCTION^ VIII. 

DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 145 



VIII. 

FOWL. 

The Bible has given no general catalogue of the 
birds allowed for man's food, but has catalogued 
those disallowed, which are birds of prey and 
scavengers of oifal and carrion. Our domestic 
fowl are healthy, when properly cared for, and their 
meat sound and wholesome. 



BREAKFAST No. 45. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Broiled Chicken. Strawberry Short Cake. 



Cold Bread. Coffee. 

Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED CHICKEN. 

Chicken for broiling should be split open at the 
back, washed, wiped dry, the breast bone flattened 
with a mallet, and the wings twisted back that the 
breast may show ; beside, a chicken looks very 
badly with the bones and wings sticking out. 
Never broil a fowl that is tough. It would be 



146 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

impossible to make it eatable by broiling ; and if 
sure that it is tender, you may make it more so 
by lirst steaming it twenty minutes. From the 
steamer transfer it to the gridiron, inside down. 
Turn it several times. When broiled a nice 
brown, season with butter and salt. Before 
steamers were used, I have parboiled a fowl pre- 
vious to broiling ; but this process robs it of its 
juiciness. When steamed, it retains its juice, and 
cooks those parts tender which, if only broiled, 
would be so scorched that they could not be 
eaten. 

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. 

One quart of flour. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Half a cup of creamed butter. 

One pint of rich sweet milk. 

One quart of strawberries. 

Incorporate soda, cream-tartar, and salt well 
into the dry flour. W^ork the creamed butter into 
the prepared flour, fill fine and yellow. Pour the 
milk to this mixture, and mould to a delicate 
dough, which divide into three parts. Eoll each 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 147 



part quickly half an inch thick. Fit each to a 
Washington-^pie plate and bake at once. 

Meantime, mash the strawberries, addino- suo-ar 
to your taste. Keep them in a cold place till the 
cakes are ready. When the cakes are done, re- 
verse the tin and lay the cake upon it. Take a 
thin sharp knife, dip it into hot water, then wipe 
it dry, and equally split the cakes. Do not split 
them with a cold knife, as it flattens the bread. 
Butter each half ; lay one third of the jam on each 
under crust and cover with the upper crust. Serve 
quickly. 



BREAKFAST No. 46, 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Oven-broiled Chicken. Baked Potatoes. 



Raised Waffles. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

Do not let your prejudice in favor of gridiron 
broiling prevent you from trying this labor-saving 
expedient. Prepare the chicken as for gridiron 
broiling. Place the chicken, skin side up, in a 
dripping-pan, pressed flat and close to the pan as 



148 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

possible. The pan must be dry, so that the chicken 
will brown on the bottom. The secret of success 
is to have the oven just as hot as the chicken will 
bear without burning. It would not be like broil- 
ing, if done in a slow oven. When done, season 
with salt and butter. 

RAISED WAFFLES. 
(See Breakfast No. 21.) 



BREAKFAST No. 47. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Chicken Fricassee. Baked Potatoes. 



Raised Biscuit {light as a foam). 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

This was a favorite breakfast of my mother's, 
and I well know its merits. For breakfast, 
the chicken should be boiled the day previous, 
unless you are a very early riser. The chicken 
need not be as tender as for broiling. When 
washed and dissected, put into a stew-pan and 
barely cover with warm water. Very cold water 
draws the juice out. Cover and stew slowly till 
tender, but not so much as to drop in pieces. 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 149 

If boiled the day previous, heat the liquor with 
the chicken in the morning. When hot, add 
butter and a very little smooth thickening. If the 
chickens are very fat, they will not need the ad- 
dition of butter. After adding the thickening, 
stew gently seven or eight minutes. The addition 
of parsley, cut fine, is considered an improvement 
by some. Serve with the gravy poured over it. 



BREAKFAST No. 48. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Cold Chicken warmed over. Baked Potatoes. 



Yeast Muffins. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

This is a convenient way to dispose of the rem- 
nants of cold roast chicken. Prepare the chicken, 
and simply heat it in the remaining gravy. If no 
gravy, heat in a little water, and add butter and a 
smooth thickening. Use stuffing, if agreeable. 

YEAST MUFFINS. 

Use the same mixture as for raised waffles, in 
Breakfast No. 21. Bake in muffin-tins. In cold 



150 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

weather this mixture may be kept for one or two 
mornings, and is thought by some an improvement. 
It is certainly a convenience to have it on hand for 
both waffles and muffins. 



BREAKFAST No. 49. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Minced Chicken. Boiled Eggs. 



Twin Biscuit. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

MINCED CHICKEN. 

Chop remnants of chicken very fine. Heat it 
with a little of the gravy. If no gravy, moisten 
it with water, and when hot, add a little butter. 
It should not be too dry or too moist. Serve on 
a hot platter. 

TWIN BISCUIT. 

Make a short cake, per receipt in Breakfast 
No. 12. Koll the dough into a sheet half an inch 
thick, and cut into rounds with your biscuit-cutter. 
Lay them one deep on your baking-pan, and just 
polish the top of each with butter ; then lay a bis- 



DOMESTIC FOWL BKEAKFASTS. 151 



cuit on each of these. By this process they are 
easily divided. Butter them when eaten. Serve 
hot. 



BREAKFAST No. 50. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Minced Chicken. Eggs on Toast. 



Cold Bread. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

This delicate and nutritious breakfast is nice for 
sick or well. Prepare mince as in Breakfast 
No. 49. 

EGGS ON TOAST. 
Break each egg separately into hot water in a 
flat pan. Cook them till the white concretes. 
Have toast a nice brown, and barely dip it into 
hot water for an instant. Do not soak it. Melt 
your butter by putting it into boiling water. Skim 
a little butter from the top of the water to the 
toast. Serve eggs on toast. 



152 WHAT TO GET FOE BEEAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 51. 



Oatmeal Mush. 



Chicken a la Cunard Steamer. 



Biscuit {light as a foam). Baked Potatoes. 



Coffee. Rice Griddle Cakes. 

CHICKEN A LA CUNARD STEAMER. 
This is a nice bill of fare for a winter breakfast. 
The joints should be separated, washed in cold 
water, and boiled tender the day previous. When 
tender, remove from the liquor and drain dry. 
Preserve the liquor. In the morning, roll each 
piece in Qgg and cracker crumbs, and fry them a 
nice brown in butter or chicken fat, skimmed from 
top of the liquor. When fried a nice brown lay 
on a platter, and keep hot. Now put a cup of 
milk, half a cup of the liquor and fat into the 
frying-pan. When hot, add a little smooth thick- 
ening, stirring it constantly. Add butter if neces- 
sary. Pour this over the chicken and serve. 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 153 

RICE GRIDDLE CAKES. 

One and a half cups of boiled rice. 

Two cups of warm, sweet milk. 

Two or three eggs. 

One saltspoonful of salt. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

Half a pint of flour. 

Separate the grains of rice and mix with the 
milk, to which, if skimmed, add a tabl.espoonful of 
melted butter. Beat the yolks and whites sepa- 
rately, then together, which add to the mixture. 
Mix soda and cream-tartar with the flour and stir 
to the mixture. If not thick enough, add flour 
till the right consistency. Wipe the griddle each 
time you grease it with a dry cloth. These 
cakes require a longer baking than batter, and 
should be baked of a smaller size. When served, 
do not pile them one upon the other, but spread 
them over the plate. Serve them hot, and of a 
beautiful brown. 



154 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 52. 



Broiled Prairie Chicl<ens. 
Saratoga Potatoes. Fried Hasty Pudding- 



Currant Jelly. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED PRAIRIE CHICKENS. 

These are usually tough. To make them tender, 
steam them and proceed as for broiled chicken in 
Breakfast No. 45. 

SARATOGA POTATOES. 

The potatoes should be nice and sliced with a 
potato-cutter. Two or three good sized potatoes, 
nicely peeled and cut '' thin as a wafer " will make 
a large sized dish full. When sliced, put them 
into icy cold water for a few moments to crisp 
them, then between two cloths to dry them. Use 
a deep kettle, as the fat is in danger of spattering 
over when the potatoes are put into it. A Scotch 
kettle is best, and every housekeeper should have 
one for frying. Have the fat hot, or the potatoes 
will soak fat. There should bo as much drippings 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 155 

for frying them us for doughnuts. When a nice 
brown, remove them from the fiit with a skimmer 
to a dry colander, wliich should be set in a plate 
in an open oven. Dredge a little salt over them. 
Do not cover the dish you serve them in as it 
makes them soaked and moist. They should be 
crisp. 



BREAKFAST No. 53. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Stewed Chicken. Macaroni. 



Raised Waffles. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

STEWED CHICKEN. 
Cut the chicken into pieces, wash it in cold 
water, and cook in just water enough to cover it. 
When thoroughly done, transfer it to a platter, 
arranging the pieces tastefully. Stir a little smooth 
thickening to the liquor. Have ready some maca- 
roni, which has been boiled in a little salted water, 
put it into the gravy and let it boil a few minutes. 
Pour this over the chicken and serve. 



156 ^VHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 54. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Turkey Hash. Hasty Pudding Fried in Crumbs. 



Cranberry Sauce. Coffee. 



Bread*-crumb Griddles. 



TURKEY HASH. 
Chop fine the meat from cold roast turkey. 
Add enough gravy to moisten it. If you have 
none use a little butter instead. Heat hot, but do 
not boil it. Serve on slices of fried hasty 
pudding. 

HASTY PUDDING FRIED IN CRUMBS. 

One should try this superior Avay of frying hasty 
pudding. Dip each slice into beaten egg and 
bread or cracker crumbs. Fry a nice brown, on 
the griddle. For hasty pudding, see receipt in 
Breakfast No. 3. 

CRANBERRY SAUCE. 
Pour boiling hot water on the cranberries, and 
you can easily separate the good from the bad. 



DOMESTIC FOAVL BREAKFASTS. 157 

Stew them in a very little water till soft. Sweeten 
to taste. These should be cooked the day before 
wanted. 

BREAD-CRUMB GRIDDLES. 

Two cups of stale bread crumbs. 

One pint of sweet milk. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One spoonful of creamed butter. 

Two eggs. 

One cup of flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Warm the milk and pour it over the bread 
crumbs. Let this stand fifteen minutes, when 
thoroughly beat with the yolks of the eggs. Add 
the salt and creamed butter, then gradually the 
flour, with which the soda and cream-tartar have 
been mixed. If not quite stifi" enough cautiously 
add a little more flour. Lastly, add the whites of 
the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth. 

These cakes require a longer baking than batter 
cakes, as the}^ are tender and more easily broken. 
When served, do not pile one over the other, but 
spread over the plate. 



158 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKTAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 55. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Warmed-over Turkey. Warmed-over Potatoes. 



Biscuit {light as a foam). Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

WARMED-OVER TURKEY. 

This is simply the remnants of cold turkey, 
heated in the remaining gravy. The stuffing can 
be added if agreeable. 

"cold potatoes Y/ARMED OVER." 

Cut cold boiled potatoes into slices thick enough 
not to break easily. Put a little of the turkey 
gravy into a fry pan, and fry each side a nice 
brown. If you do not like them browned, simply 
heat them. 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 159 



BREAKFAST No. 56. 

Broiled Quails. 

Buttered Toast. Currant Jelly. 

Coffee or Tea. Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED QUAILS. 
Broiled quail are esteemed a dainty. They are 
a very savory and nourishing breakfast fare. 
Split them at the back, wash and lay them in 
cold water twenty minutes to bleach them. Wipe 
them dry and broil over a bright fire. Keep the 
bone side to the fire till hot throughout, only turn- 
ino- a minute at a time to keep it from burning. 
Baste them with butter. Broil a nice yellow 
brown all over. Serve them on buttered toast, 
with a little currant jelly on top of each quail. 



160 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 57. 

Oven-broiled Quails. 
Raised Waffles. Grape Jelly. 



Cocoa or Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

OVEN-BROILED QUAILS. 

Try ttiis labor-saving innovation. For oven- 
broiling the same principles should be observed as 
for gridiron broiling, — the baking pan must be 
kept very hot while the meat is broiling. Split 
the quails at the back. AVhen washed, wipe dry, 
and lay them as flat as possible, inside down, on 
the pan. Have the pan dry, that they may broil 
on the bottom, not steam. Have the oven quick, 
but not hot enough to burn. Broil till an even 
yellow brown. Serve hot, on slices of buttered 
toast, with grape or cranberry jelly. 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 161 

BREAKFAST No. 58. 

Broiled Pigeons. 



Raised Muffins. Cranberry Jelly. 



Coffee or Cocoa. Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED PIGEONS. 

Have tender pigeons. Split them at the back, 
and flatten them gently with a mallet, and broil 
over a quick fire. When cooked, serve with a 
generous quantity of butter. Season with salt 
and pepper to taste. 

CRANBERRY JELLY. 

Wash and carefully pick over the fruit. Boil in 
just water enough to cover them. Then strain 
them throuo'h a hair sieve, and sweeten with fine 
sugar to your taste. Boil this gently and with 
care ten or fifteen minutes. Mould in cups or 
tumblers. This receipt is only intended for im- 
mediate use. 

For raised muffins, see Yeast Muffins. 



162 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 59. 

Broiled Squabs. 



Buttered Toast. Currant Jelly. 



Coffee or Tea. Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED SQUABS. 

Broiled squabs are an esteemed delicacy, and 
are in great request in the convalescent's room. 
Wash them, and carefully wipe dry with a clean 
cloth. Split them down the back and broil in a 
wire gridiron like chickens. Season with salt and 
butter when you dish them. 

BUTTERED TOAST. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 5. ) 

CURRANT JELLY. 

Put the fruit into a preserving-kettle, and mash 
it with a ladle. When hot squeeze it through a 
coarse linen bag. Allow a pound of fine sugar to 
a pint of juice. Boil the juice five minutes. Have 
the sugar heated, and while boiling add the hot 
sugar; stir it well, and boil another five "minutes. 
Remove and put into glasses. 



SECTIO]Sr IX. 

FISH BREAKFASTS. 



FISH BKEAKTASTS. 165 



IX. 

CLARIFIED DPJPPIISrGS. 

Claeify means to make pure or clear. The care 
of drippings is a very important item in a family, 
and every housekeeper should know what is done 
with them. An inexperienced cook will not be 
acquainted with the various ways of preventing 
them from being wasted, and if experienced may 
not be inclined to take the trouble unless she is 
looked after. Then there are families who look 
upon drippings as unfit to use, and consign them 
to the waste fat. When properly taken care of, 
they are more wholesome than lard for frying. 
Many persons quite unable to eat articles of food 
fried in lard find no inconvenience from those 
fried in drippings, and they are more convenient 
than lard for frying as they do not splutter and 
spatter over the frying-pan. 

To clarify your drippings or gravy, pour them 
from the meat-pan into a l:)owl, instead of the crock 
in which you intend to keep them. Then pour 
into the bowl a little boiling water. Stir it, and 



166 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

set it away to cool. Next day, or when cold, 
remove the cake from the bowl, sci-ape from the 
bottom of it the impm'ities, put it into a saucepan 
with a little salt and boiling water. Let it set 
half an hour over a moderate hre and simmer. 
Do not hurry it, or it may acquire a burnt taste, 
which you cannot get rid of, and its pureness is 
spoiled. Skim during the process. When cold, 
remove from the water and dregs, scraping off 
whatever adheres to it that looks foreio-n. Melt 
this cake again, as this melting sends out all the 
water. When free from water it will not taint, 
neither spatter, and will keep for months in a cold 
place. Strain it through a sieve, and do not cover 
or put it away till hard. Keep it in a stone crock, 
well covered. 

Earthen absorbs fat, and it becomes tainted, 
smells disagreeably, affecting the flavor of newly- 
added fats, and of whatever is cooked in it. How 
often you see warmed-over potatoes spoiled hy 
keeping the fat in earthen which is soaked with it. 
No matter how clean your earthen vessel is, — you 
cannot scald out the old and tainted fat it has 
absorbed. Beware of tainted bowls, they are 
poisonous, and should be appropriated to the dirt 
barrel. Do not pour fat that has been used for 
frying to the crock that keeps the cakes, but have 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 167 

one for each. Alw.nys let fat that has been used 
pass through a fine strainer when you return it, 
else the sediment will spoil the next frying. 

CLARIFIED BEEF SUET. 

Where frying is very popular, drippings do 
not meet the demand, whicli makes it necessary 
to buy beef suet. This also needs rendering, to 
clear it from skin and veins. The parts around 
the kidneys are best. Cut in small pieces, 
and proceed as for trying lard. Cool in small 
cakes. 

THE PPvINCIPLES OF FRYING FISH. 

Fried fish is very popular and often very con- 
venient, yet very badly performed by many, and 
has more failures than any othar cooking ope- 
ration. 

Although the fishmonger is supposed to have his 
fish clean, yet a clean cook will always rewash it. 
When washed, wrap them in a clean dry cloth, to 
make them perfectly dry. When the cloth has 
absorbed all the moisture, thickly dredge the fish 
with flour, fine oatmeal, or fine crumbs. If crumbs, 
they must be fine, or herein lies a failure. Coarse 
crumbs are liable to drop ofif, and take with them 



168 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

the fine ones. AYlien salted and dredged, lay on 
a platter in readiness for frying. 

Have a clear and brisk fire. Be sure that your 
frying-pan is perfectly clean. In frying fish be 
particular not to use drippings that are not fresh. 
They will ruin the fish if they have been used for 
amthing else. More fat is required for frying 
fish than for other meats. The drippings must 
literally boil, smoke, and appear on the point of 
burning when the fish is put into it, which at once 
hardens the surface of the fish, so that the fat can- 
not penetrate, and you may feel assured that j^our 
fish will not soak fat, neither will it stick to the 
pan or break. Many suppose if fat luib1)les in the 
pan it is hot enough : but this is not so, and those 
are nearest to the truth who do not drop their fish 
into the fat until it smokes. Fish will be crisp 
and of a o-olden brown when the fat is of the rio:ht 
temperature. 

Have your pan sufiiciently large for the fish to 
lay fiat on it. If cutlets, do not crowd them. Be 
careful not to burn fish or fat. Lastly, bear in 
mind that if fish is thrown into the pan with un- 
melted or partly heated fat it will be spoiled, and 
so soaked vdth fat that it will be unsafe to eat 
it, for it will surely sicken the stomach. If you 
fail, there are four reasons for it. Either vou did 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 169 

not have fat enou2;li or it was not hot enouo^h, or 
your fish not wiped dry enough, or your crumbs 
not fine enough. Closely observe these sugges- 
tions, and failure will not occur. 



BREAKFAST No. 60. 

Crushed Wheat. 
Broiled Salmon Steaks. Baked Potatoes. 



Parker House Biscuit. Dressed Cucumbers. 



Coffee and Fruit. 



Salmon is clad in the livery of scales and fins 
which the law of the great naturalist requires to 
ensure its wholesomeness. It ranks No. 1 among 
epicurean delicacies, and is accorded a place of 
honor on every table in the land. 

BROILED SALMON STEAKS. 
It is a very nice operation to broil salmon with- 
out burning, and none but the skilful should 
attempt it. Many consequently prefer baking or 
oven-broiling. Be sure your gridiron is clean and 
hot. Have a clear but not too hot fire. Broil a 
light brown. Season with butter and salt. 



170 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAEXAST. 

CUCUMBERS 

Harmonize with salmon. (For particulars, see 
Breaklast Xo. 'J. ) 



BREAKFAST No. 61. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Canned Salmon with Cream Sauce. 



Buttered Toast. Dressed Lettuce and Celery, 



Coffee and Griddle Cakes. 

CAXXED SALMON WITH CREAM SAUCE. 

Canned Salmon can he kept in the house, and 
in case of emergency a fine In-eakfast can be })ro- 
duced in a few minutes. It should be heated, 
seasoned to taste, placed on Vaitter toast, and a 
cream dressing poured over it. 

For drawn butter or cream dressing, incorporate 
two spoonfuls of butter with half a teaspoonful of 
Hour. Add to this a cupful of Ijoiling water, and 
buil two minutes, stirring continually. 

DRESSED LETTUCE AND CELERY. 

Lettuce and celery mixed together are very nice. 
Cut both verv fine. Dress them with sus-ar and 



FISH BKEAKFASTS. 171 



lemon juice, diluted with a little water. The 
acid of lemon is a much pleasanter adjunct than 
vinegar. 



BREAKFAST No. 62. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Fried Trout. Baked Potatoes. 



Soda Muffins. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FRIED TROUT. 
Trout are of the genus of salmon. Small trout 
are best fried. They should be washed, wiped 
^^y^ egged, rolled in salted flour, and fried in 
butter. Serve them with plain melted butter, and 
garnish with parsley. 

SODA MUFFINS. 
One quart of flour. 
One heaping teaspoonful of soda. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
A heaping dessert-spoonful of butter. 
Two or three eo-o^s. 
One pint and a half of sour milk. 



172 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAIvFAST. 

Sift salt and soda with the flour. Cream the 
butter. Beat the eggs, yolks and whites separately, 
then together. Add the butter to the middle of 
the flour, then the eggs ; lastly, pour in the milk, 
and beat all to a light batter. Fill muffin or cake- 
pans nearly two-thirds full, and put them into a 
quick oven instantaneously. 



BREAKFAST No. 63. 



Cracked Wheat. 

Fried Smelts. Baked Potatoes. 



Breakfast Twists. Coffee and Griddle Cakes. 

FRIED SMELTS. 

Smelts are classed by naturalists with the sal- 
mon family. They are included among wholesome 
fish. They make a delicate breakfast^ and are 
called '' the dainty of Boston." 

The nicest and only way is to fry them. Open 
them at the gills and press out the insides. Some 
cooks do not remove the inside, but they should, 
for the same reason done to other fish. '^Vash 
them clean, wipe them dry, roll them in meal or 
egg-crumbs. Have 3^our fat boiling hot when the 



FISH BKEAKFASTS. 173 

iish are put into it. Do not sprinkle them with 
salt until they are nearly done, as they will not 
brown as well if salted at the first. Do not crowd 
them, or they will not be crisp and brown ; and 
unless served immediately they lose their crispness 
and flavor. Lay them on a cloth when evenly 
done, for the fat to drain, then serve quickly. 

BREAKFAST TWISTS. 

For breakfast twists prepare your dough the 
same as for biscuit in Breakfast Xo. 2. Cut from 
the dough three pieces as large as a coffee-cup. 
Roll each piece under your hand on a floured 
board to tw^elve inches in leno-th, makin*? it smaller 
in circumference at the ends than in the middle. 
When each piece is rolled, join one end to each of 
the other two, and braid them loosely together the 
length of the roll. Press the ends together firmly, 
brush them over with milk, and let them rise 
twenty minutes. Set them in a quick over, and 
bake thirty minutes. They can be made smaller 
if desired. 



GRIDDLE CAKES 

ither 
you fancy. 



Select either of the foreo^oino: o^riddle cakes that 



174 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 64. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Broiled Halibut. Baked Potatoes. 



Biscuit {Vight as a foam). Coffee. 



Watermelon. 

Halibut, turbot, flounders, and plaice are all of 
the family of flat fish. They each bear the char- 
acter of great excellence as food. 

HALIBUT STEAKS. 

There is no nicer fish for breakfast than broiled 
halibut steaks. If sprinkled with salt an hour 
before being cooked, they will broil without break- 
ing. Have them dry, and broil over a clear fire. 
With like eflfect, they can be oven-broiled. When 
cooked, season with butter and serve. 

WATEPx-MELON. 

The melon, like other cool juicy fruits of the 
hot season, is for use. It is especially valuable at 
this season with those whose diet is largely meat. 



FISH BEEAKFASTS. 175 

It is more of a drink than food, the greater part 
being pure water. From this melon you get a 
drink entirely free from adulteration. 



BREAKFAST No. 65. 

Hominy and Milk. 
Halibut a la Creme. Breakfast Puffs. 



Baked Potatoes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

HALIBUT A LA CREME. 
Flake the remains of cold boiled or baked hali- 
but. Remove all the skin and bones. Scald a 
pint of sweet milk, or enough for the quantity of 
lish. Mix l)utter the size of an egg ^vith a tea- 
spoonful of flour. Stir this smoothly into the hot 
milk for a dressing. Let this heat till it thickens. 
Be careful not to scorch it. Butter an earthen 
baking-dish. Put into it a layer of fish, then of 
the dressing, and alternate till all is used, with the 
dressing on the top. Sprinkle sifted bread crumbs 
over the top. Bake twenty minutes. 

BREAKFAST PUFFS. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 28.) 



176 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 66. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Fried Flounders. Baked Potatoes. 



Raised Waffles. Cucumbers, 



Coffee. 

FRIED FLOUNDEPS. 

Flounders are a delicious fish, and when fried 
in perfection are not to be disdained even bj a 
bon vivant. They should be fried brown in a 
plenty of drippings, and if the fat is hot enough 
they will absorb nothing at all. They may be 
fried whole, which is preferred by some, or they 
may be detached from the bone and cut in 
quarters. 

RAISED WAFFLES. 
(SeeBreakfast Xo. 21.) 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 177 



BREAKFAST No. 67. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Broiled Shad. Saratoga Potatoes. 



Biscuit (light as a foam). Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED SHAD. 

Shad belong to the scaly family, and are armed 
with fins. This delicious fish is undoubtedly best 
broiled. It should be fresh caught. Wash, 
sprinkle with salt, and put into a wire gridiron. 
Set over a clear fire, skin side down first. 
When beginning to cook through, turn and finish 
on the flesh side. Have it an even, nice brown. 
Serve on a hot platter, and butter liberally. 

SARATOGA POTATOES. 
(See Breakfast No. 52.) 

BISCUIT, LIGHT AS A FOAM. 
(See Breakfast No. 3.) 



178 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 68. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Little Perch (fried). Cream Muffins. 



Saratoga Potatoes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FRIED PERCH. 

Perch is a fresh-water fish, abounding in rivers, 
lakes, and ponds. They are clad with scales and 
fins. Clean and dry them well in a cloth, then 
roll them in salted meal. Fry them in a plenty of 
sweet drippings. Serve them quickly, Avith crisp 
parsley. 

CREAM MUFFINS. 

One quart of sifted flour. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Three or four eggs. 

Nearly a pint and a half of rich sweet cream. 

Mix salt, soda, and cream-tartar with the flour. 
Beat yolks and whites separately, then together, 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 179 

and pour them into the middle of the flour. 
Lastly, add the cream, which must be thick, and 
real cream. Bake in muffin-pans. Send to the 
table the moment they are done. 



BREAKFAST No. 69. 

Whole Wheat and Milk. 
Turbot a la Cream. Bread Muffins. 



Cocoa or Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

TURBOT A LA CREME. 

This is usually made from boiled turbot, which 
has been previously served for dinner. Remove 
all skin and bones, and flake it. Scald a pint of 
sweet milk. Mix butter the size of an egg with 
a teaspoonful of flour. Stir this smoothly into the 
hot milk, and let it thicken. Butter a fire-proof 
earthen dish. Put into it, first, a layer of fish, 
then of dressing. Continue the alternation until 
all the fish is used, with dressing last. Sprinkle 
sifted bread crumbs over the whole, and bake half 
an hour, or according to the size. Any boiled 
fish may be served thus. 



180 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAD MUFFINS. 

Two cupfuls of finely-grated bread. 

One pint and a half of sweet milk. 

Three eggs. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One cupful of flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Pour the milk to the bread crumbs, and let them 
soak half an hour. At the end of this time beat 
the yolks of the eggs, and with the salt stir into 
the mixture. iMix soda and cream-tartar to the 
flour and add. If not thick enough for a muffin 
mixture add more flour cautiously. Lastl}^ add 
the whites of the eggs, which have been beaten to 
a stifi" froth. Bake in muffin or pufi'-pans. Fill 
them a little more than half full. These require a 
lono[:er bakins: than all batter. Have them a nice 
brown, and send to the table while hot. 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 181 

BREAKFAST No. 70. 

Hominy and Milk. 



Broiled Scrod. Baked Potatoes. 



Flannel Cakes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED SCROD. 

Have a small codfish split and the back-bone 
taken out. Wash in cold water, and wipe dry. 
Put in a wire broiler, with skin side down. Set it 
over a clear fire, and when beginning to cook 
through, turn and broil the flesh side. Season 
with butter and serve. 

FLANNEL CAKES. 
One cup of corn meal. 
Two cups of flour. 
Two cups of sweet milk. 
One-third of a cake of compressed yeast. 

Add salt, and rise over night. In the morning, 
add one egg, well beaten. Thoroughly beat the 
whole and rise half an hour. Bake in Washinolon 
pie plates. 



182 ^^^IAT to get for beeakfast. 



BREAKFAST No. 71. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Broiled Fresh Mackerel. Raised Biscuit {light as a foam). 



Baked Potatoes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

Mackerel has a smooth skin, covered with a 
multitude of small, smooth scales, and is armed 
■with fins, which class it with wholesome animals. 

BROILED FRESH MACKEREL. 

Clean and he careful to remove all the thin, 
black skin fi*om the inside. Sprinkle the inside 
with salt, and keep in a cool place till you use it. 
Then wash off the salt with cold water, and wipe 
dry. Put it into a wire broiler, with the skin side 
to the fii-e first. TThen the skin is well heated 
and begins to parch, turn it, and broil the inside 
to a delicate brown. Lay on a hot platter when 
done, butter it. and serve at once. 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 183 



BREAKFAST No. 72. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Broiled Salt Mackerel. New-England Johnny-Cake. 



Baked Potatoes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

BROILED SALT MACKEREL. 

When cleaned, freshen them in at least a gallon 
of cold water over night. In the morning pour oif 
the water, drain, and soak them one hour in milk 
enoug'h to cover them. Before broiling, drain 
them, and wipe dry. Put them into a wire broiler 
and proceed as for fresh mackerel in the foregoing 
6reakfast. Or, bake them in a moderate oven, 
and to two mackerel allow a cupful of milk. Bake 
in the milk. Some think this an improvement on 
fried or broiled salt mackerel. 

NEW-ENGLAND JOHNNY CAKE. 
Two cupfuls of sour buttermilk. 
One egg- 

One teaspoonful of salt. 
One teaspoonful of soda. 



184 ^^TIAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

Stir enough Indian meal into the buttermilk to 
make a thin batter. Add the salt and the egg 
Tvell beaten. Dissolve soda in a little warm water, 
and mix through the batter. Be sure to have it 
thin, so that it can almost run. Bake in shallow 
pans. If it is not light, it is because you made it 
too thick with Indian meal. 



BREAKFAST No. 73. 



Oatmeal Mush. 
Fried Codfish Steaks. Baked Potatoes. 



Indian Sponge Cake. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FRIED_ CODFISH STEAKS. 

Cod, haddock, and hake are related. 'Tis said 
that no more nourishing fish comes to the market 
than cod. The skin of the cod is covered with 
small, soft scales, and its fins are of a large size, 
which are its s}Tnbol of wholesomeness. Have 
you ever tried codfish steaks for breakfast ? Dredge 
them in corn meal, and fvy in a plentj^ of hot drip- 
pings, taking care that they have time enough to 
thoroughly cook through the thickness. They are 
a very nice breakfast. 



FISH BEEAKTASTS. 185 



BREAKFAST No. 74. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Fresh Fish Mince. Squash Biscuit. 



Coffee. Crumb Griddles. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FRESH FISH MINCE. 
The boiled fresh fish that is left from dinner 
makes a nice mince for breakfast. Eeject the 
skin and bones ; shred it fine or coarse with a fork, 
and use the same quantity of sliced cold potatoes. 
Moisten it with gravy or water, cover, and heat. 
When done, add a little butter and serve. 

SQUASH BISCUIT. 
(See Breakfast JiTo. 8. ) 

CRUMB GRIDDLES. 
(See Breakfast No. 54.) 



186 ^^TBAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST, 



BREAKFAST No. 75. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Fricassee of Tongues and Sounds. 



Biscuit {light as a foam). Baked Potatoes. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

COD TONGUES AND SOUNDS. 
Soak them in warm water and scrape them thor- 
oughly. This should be done the night previous 
to breakfast. In the morning stew them ten min- 
utes in just milk and water enough to cover them. 
When about ready, incorporate a little flour with 
as much ])iitter as is needed, which stir into the 
liquor, and let it come to a boil. Pour this over 
the tongues and sounds. These make a very 
acceptable breakfast. 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 187 



BREAKFAST No. 76. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Codfish a la Shaker. Sponge Corn Cake. 



Baked Potatoes. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

CODFISH A LA SHAKER. 

Shred uncooked salt fish m pieces about an inch 
in size. Put them into a tin pan, adding hot water 
enough to deeply cover the fish. Keep this at a 
boiling point for three-quarters of an hour. Be 
very careful not to let it come to a boil. Boiling 
salt fish toughens it ; but when cooked in hot 
water it can be made tender as chicken. When 
soaked the specified time, drain off all the water, 
adding more boiling water, more or less, to make 
it the moisture you like. Into a heaping spoonful 
of butter incorporate a little flour. Stir this to the 
fish, keeping it hot enough for the flour to cook. If 
to your taste, add a beaten egg at the same time, 
allowing time for it to cook. 

For sponge corn cake, see receipt in Breakfast 
No. 9. 



188 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAICFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 77. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Codfish a la Shaker, with Dropped Eggs. 



Sponge Corn Cake Muffins. 
Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

CODFISH A LA SHAKER. 
Prepare the fish as in Breakfast Xo. 76. Do not 
have it very juicy in this case. When sufficiently 
cooked, dish it on a platter and keep hot. Drop 
the number of eofo^s needed into boilino: water, 
being careful to keep them in shape, and as soon 
as the whites are set, carefully place them on the 
fish. Garnish with parsley. This unpretending 
breakfast is very palatable, and a very convenient 
one in cases of exigency, as most people have the 
articles used on hand. 

DROPPED EGGS. 
(See Breakfast iS"o. 1.) 

MUFFINS. 
(See Indian Sponge Cake, Breakfast ISTo. 9.) 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 189 

BREAKFAST No. 78. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Minced Fish and Potatoes. Sponge Corn Cake. 



Cucumbers. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

MINCED FISH AND POTATOES. 
What is left from dinner is usually used for 
minced fish. Pick out all the bones and skin the 
day the fish is cooked, as salt fish is not so pliable 
when cold and easier shredded when warm. Chop 
fine. Do not mash, but chop evenly and fine the 
potatoes. Mix both evenly together in the morn- 
ing, also chop potatoes in the morning. Allow 
more or less potato than fish, as you fancj^ Cover 
the bottom of the spider with melted butter, then 
pour in the fish and potato. Add enough milk to 
moisten the mixture, but add it without stirring. 
If you want a brown crust to form on the bottom, 
do not stir it at all, but keep it covered. Be care- 
ful that it does not burn. When done, add butter ; 
mix carefully, not disturbing the crust. Loosen 
the crust with a knife. Have it turn out a nice 



190 WHAT TO GET FOE BEEAKFAST. 

brown, with the crust side up, or you can fold it 
as YOU do an omelet. 

If you do not prefer a crust, you need not be 
cautious about disturbing the mixture from the 
bottom, but stir it the usual way. 



BREAKFAST No. 79. 



Oatmeal Mush. 



Baked Minced Fish and Potatoes. 



Brown Bread Brewis. Sweet Pickled Beets. 



Coffee. Ripe Frui 



BAKED MINCED FISH AND POTATOES. 

This is an elegant dish of fish and potatoes, when 
gotten in good taste. Prepare fish as in Breakfast 
Xo. 78. Add butter, milk, and- one raw egg. 
Mix all too'ether. Be careful not to o-et the mix- 
ture too moist. Butter a round tin pan, then 
sprinkle it with fine bread crumbs. Fill the pan, 
coYer it, and bake till brown on the bottom and 
sides. Turn it on a platter when done, and retain 
the form, if possi)j>le. 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 191 

BROWN BREAD BREWIS. 
Take crusts and' pieces of brown bread. Cover 
them with milk, and simmer three-quarters of an 
hour. Just before served, add a little butter and 
salt. 



BREAKFAST No. 80. 

Cracked Wheat. 

Fish Balls. Brown Bread Toast. 

Spiced Peaches. Coffee. 

Ripe Fruit. 

FISH BALLS. 
In New-England these are a well-known and an 
honored dish. Mince fine boiled salt fish, after 
every vestige of bone and skin are removed. 
Mash, not chop, fresh boiled potatoes. Have 
more potato than fish, or they will not unite well. 
Work both into a united mixture by adding butter. 
Some think a beaten egg an improvement. Flour 
your hands, and make the mixture into little flat 
cakes. Dredge them. Fry as doughnuts in boil- 
ing hot drippings. Take them out with a skim- 
mer, and lay them on a strainer that the fat may 
drain oflT. Send to the table on a hot platter. 



192 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKTAST. 

BROWN BREAD TOAST. 

Brown bread requires longer toasting than white 
bread. When nicely toasted, dip into melted 
butter mixed with a little hot water. 

SPICED PEACHES. 

Although not decided and positive enough to 
suit most palates, yet there are those who admire 
them. If you do not keep sweet pickles on hand, 
take a few preserved peaches, and to some of the 
syrup add spices and vinegar. This is sometimes 
a convenience to use a superabundance of pre- 
serves. Any preserve can be served in this way. 



BREAKFAST No. 81. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Broiled Salt Fish. Baked Potatoes^ 



Boiled Eg-gs. Corn Meal Crumpets. 



Coffee. 



BROILED SALT FISH. 

This is a nice breakfast for an emergencyc Cut 
from the thickest part of the fish a square. Cover 



FISH BREAKFASTS. 193 



it with boiling hot water, and soak in a warm room 
over night. In the morning pour off this water, 
and if you suspect that it has not freshened suffici- 
ently add hot water again, and set it on the back 
of stove for ten minutes. The application of hot 
water will make the fish more tender than cold 
water. Wipe the fish dry, and broil over a clear 
fii'e. Butter when done, and serve hot. 

CORN MEAL CRUMPETS. 

Two cupfuls of sour milk or buttermilk. 

One heaping spoonful of flour. 

One egg, well beaten. 

One teaspoonful of sugar. 

One saltspoonful of salt. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Add Indian meal enough to make a batter of 
the right consistency. Dissolve soda in a little 
warm water, and mix to the batter. Try a spoon- 
ful on the griddle before you bake them, so that 
you may add more flour if too thin, or more milk 
if too thick. Serve hot as fast as you bake them. 
Do not pile one on the other. 



SBCTIOlSr X. 

EGG BREAKFASTS. 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 197 



X. 

EGGS. 

Eggs contain a great deal of nutriment in a 
small compass, and possess all the properties neces- 
sary to develop animal life. 



BREAKFAST No. 82. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Boiled Eggs. East-wind Gems. 



Family Bread. Coffee. 



Strawberries. 



BOILED EGGS. 
I have already given the most popular method 
for boiling eggs in Breakfost No. 7, but would 
add that a wire basket for boiling them is a great 
improvement. Carefully place the eggs in the 
basket before putting them into the hot water, and 
there will be no danger of cracking them. Boil to 
suit your guests. 



198 ' WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKTAST. 



EAST-WIND GEMS. 

It is not known whether these hygienic breakfast 
cakes are of the days of unleavened bread, or a 
modern invention. You need not fear the east 
wind they may have imbibed, for the hot oven 
coimteracts its mischievous influence, and they are 
not only hygienic, but taste good. Their fibre is 
like nut meats, and you A^ill enjoy giving the teeth 
just the exercise they need when jon are eatinof 
them. 

You are supposed to have baking-irons for these 
gems, else you had better not attempt them. 
Take very cold milk and water, half and half. 
Stir in Graham and wliite flour, half and half, 
Kttle by little, until you have a batter that will 
drop from the spoon and not rtm. It must be 
stiiTcd rapidly, lightly, and thoroughlyj the more 
the better, to incoiporate a large amount of air 
and insure lightness. It needs a strong aiTa to 
cany this into efl<ect. 

Have the gem-pans ready hot in a hot oven. 
This you must be sure about to secure light gems. 
Drop the batter into the hot irons while in the 
oven, or if you are very quick take the irons out 
for convenience. They require a quick oven to 
bake them, else you lose the air they have taken 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 



199 



in, which is a nice point to determine, for the oven 
should bake as fast as it can without burning. 

If you don't succeed this time try again, — keep 
trying and don't give it up. Make your batter a 
little thinner or thicker, your oven a little slower 
or quicker. There is a way, you may feel sure, 
and if you keep trying you will find it out, and 
will be likely to repeat your success often. When 
these culinary curiosities are in perfection they are 
light and puffy, and you have pure unleavened 
bread, with no taste of "emptyings" or soda. 



BREAKFAST No. 83. 

Cracked Wheat. 

Scrambled Eggs. Cream Muffins. 

Cold Bread. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

"When scrambled eggs are served for breakfast, 
guests should be in readiness betimes, as their im- 
mediate consumption is one of the conditions of 
their perfection. 

SCRAMBLED EGGS. 
Break five or six eggs into a bowl and beat for 
one minute. Heat the frying-pan. Melt a table- 



200 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

spoonful of butter, with a saltspoonful of salt, and 
pour in the eggs. Begin at once to stir to and fro 
from the bottom, as the e2:s hardens there first. 
Keep all the egg stiiTed together, till there is no 
liquid, but a delicate mixture of white and yellow, 
moist but not running, that will heap on a dish. 
When just right, turn quickly into a dish and 
serve. If left in the hot pan it will go on harden- 
ing, and is not fit to be served. 

CREAM MUFFINS. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 6S. ) 



BREAKFAST No. 84. 

Cracked Wheat. 

Poached Eggs. Breakfast Twists. 



Baked Apples. Cocoa au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

POACHED EGGS. 

In Breakfast Xo. 2 are directions for poached or 
dropped eggs. Bear in mind that the water for 
poached eggs must be at the boihng point when 
the eggs are dropped into it, and cooked without 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 201 

boilino^ until a white coatinor jg formed, throuofh 
which the yolks are visible. 

COCOA AU LAIT. 

Is simply half cocoa and half milk. Boil half a 
pot of cocoa sufficiently, and while boiling hot fill 
the pot with hot milk. Do not boil the milk. 
Boiled milk gives it an unpleasant flavor. De- 
licious. 



BREAKFAST No. 85. 



Oatmeal Mush. 



Baked Eggs. Minced Lamb or Veal. 



Breakfast Twists. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 



BAKED EGGS. 



Butter liberally a baking-pan the size you need 
for the number of eggs. Fill in as many muffin- 
rings as you have eggs. Break each egg into a 
cup, and when the butter is hot pour the eggs 
gently into the rings. Bake in a moderately quick 
oven until the whites are cooked. When done, 



202 AVHAT TO GET FOR BREAKTAST. 

lav them on the mince. These are much more 

delicate than fried eggs. 

BREAKFAST T^VISTS. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 60.) 



BREAKFAST No. 86. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Fried Eggs. Frizzled Beef. 



Fried Hasty Pudding. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FRIED EGGS. 

Have ready a fry-pan with boiling drippings 
enough to cover an egg when broken into it. 
Break each egg into a cup. and pour one at a time 
into the hot fat. Do not crowd them. Three or 
four are enough to fry at a time. As soon as the 
white is set. with a spoon dip the hot fat repeat- 
edly over the eggs. This will prevent the neces- 
sity of turning them, which cannot be done with- 
out spoiling the beauty of the eggs. Take them 
up with a perforated ladle, and serve quickly. K 
preferred, they can be dropped into muffin-rings, 
as for dropped eggs. 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 203 

FRIZZLED BEEF. 

Half a pound of smoked beef, shaved very thin, 
and just heated in a tablespoonful of butter. 



OMELETS. 

A heavy and scorched omelet is not fit to be 
served. To know just how to create this popular 
breakfast dish, and get it to the table so that it will 
be succulent, juicy, and soft as cream inside, with 
fine and firm outside, requires a little practice to 
make one perfect. 

They should be cooked in a pan made on pur- 
pose, for a large frying-pan allows the omelet to 
spread too much, and a certain thickness secures 
the softness of the inside. Fry them only on one 
side. When the under side is done or browned, 
and the upper side brought to a moderate consist- 
ency, the brown side is to be folded once, or in 
three, as you fancy. 

There are a multitude of receipts for omelets, but 
the principles are the same for all, the difference 
being only in the flavoring. Allow from three to 
five eggs for an omelet ; but never over five for a 
single one, as they do not work well. If more 



204 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

eggs are required, two or three omelets should be 
made. For breakfast, they are more delicate with- 
out flavoring. 



BREAKFAST No. 87. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Plain Omelet. Split Bannock Toast. 



Strawberries. Coffee or Cocoa. 

This is a dainty breakfast when gotten in perfec- 
tion and eaten instantaneously. Guests should be 
notified that omelet is a fleeting pleasure, and 
unless eaten at the right moment, its goodness is 
lost forever. 

PLAIN OMELET. 
Four fresh eggs. 
Four tablespoonfuls of cream, 
Or milk. 

Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat them slightly ; 
just long enough to mix them and no more. 
Allow a tablespoonful of cream or milk to each 
egg, and beat together. Do not salt them, as it 
will flatten the omelet. When nearly read}^, have 



EGG BKEAKFASTS. 205 

the pan set on the fire. Put into it about an ounce 
of butter, which is a rounded table spoonful. Be 
careful not to let the butter brown. As soon as it 
is hot, pour in the omelet. When it sets or begins 
to cook, raise it often with the blade of a knife, to 
let the air and butter pass in, which keep it from 
burning. If the heat is right, the whole mass will 
puff up and cook in a minute. 

It is not necessary to wait till the whole is solid- 
ified, as its heat will finish cooking it after it has 
left the pan. When it ceases to be a liquid, turn 
one half upon the other, on a hot plate. Serve 
instantaneously. Hot plates are an absolute ne- 
cessity. If your omelet is perfect, you will find a 
porous material when you put a silver knife 
into it. 

Obs. — An omelet fried in chicken or turkey fat 
is much whiter and nicer than when fried in butter. 
Turkey and chicken drippings should be clarified 
the same as beef drippings. 

SPLIT BANNOCK TOAST. 
(See Short Cake Toast, Breakfast No. 12.) 



206 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 88. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Bread Omelet. Raised Muffins. 



Stewed Prunes. Cocoa au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

This moderate yet dainty breakfast when artis- 
tically achieved is warmly greeted at the breakfast 
table. 

BREAD OMELET. 

One cup of bread crumbs soaked in four spoon- 
fuls of milk, then beaten soft. Four or live eofors 
beaten till you can dip up a spoonful. Mix all 
together. Moisten the bottom of the pan well 
with butter, and when hot pour in the omelet. 
Fry a nice brown. Turn one half over the other, 
and serve quickly. 

RAISED MUFFINS. 
(See Breakfast No. 48.) 

COCOA AU LAIT. 
(See Breakfast No. 84.) 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 207 



BREAKFAST No. 89. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Corn Omelet. Raised Waffles. 



Family Bread. Cocoa au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

CORN OMELETS. 

A dainty omelet this when gotten in perfection. 
Boil three ears of tender corn. When cold, grate 
them fine. Beat four or five eggs, yolks and 
whites separately. Add one gill of milk or cream 
to the yolks ; then stir them to the corn. Whisk 
the whites dry, and lightly stir them through the 
mixture. Make some butter hot in the frying-pan, 
and pour the omelet into it. Fry a light brown. 
Fold the usual way, and serve immediately. 

RAISED WAFFLES. 
(See Breakfast No. 21.) 



208 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 90. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Baked Omelet. Cream Toast. 



Strawberries. Coffee or Cocoa. 

BAKED OMELET. 

Tills Is a very conyenlent omelet, because it does 
not engross the attention while cooking, like the 
ordinary omelet, and is a handsome as well as 
satisfying dish for breakfast. Beat four or live 
fresh eggs. Add two cupfuls of cream or milk, 
and stir thorouo-hly too'ether. Pour the omelet 
into a buttered earthen pudding-dish, and bake as 
you would a custard, till firm. When done, inyert 
the omelet on another dish suited to its conyeni- 
ence. Serye Cjuickly. 

CREAM TOAST. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 40. ) 



EGG BREAKFASTS. 209 



BREAKFAST No. 91. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Excelsior Omelet. Huckleberry Short Cake. 



Coffee. Fruit. 



EXCELSIOR OMELET. 

This breakfast, when in perfection, will entertain 
the most fastidious. If you are given to attempt- 
ing omelets, be wise betimes, and suggest to your 
guests that they delay not this omelet by lingering ; 
for this is uncertain like all others, and does not 
wait. Beat together yolks and whites of five fresh 
eggs, until you can dip them up with a spoon. 
Stir to this one and a half cups of new milk. 
When mixed, pour into a well buttered spider 
already on the fire. Now you do not manage this 
like the ordinary omelet ; but with a spoon instead 
of a knife you toss it from the bottom as the egg 
"sets." Do not toss or dissever it too much, but 
when done, have it look like broken custard. 
When there is no liquid to the egg, turn it quickly 
into a warm dish, and serve directly. Salt, but- 
ter, and pepper, individually applied. Warm 
plates desirable. 



SECTIO]^" XL 
CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 213 



XI. 

CROQUETTES. 

" Gather up the fragments that remain, that 
nothing be lost." 

This text is quite opportune for those house- 
keepers who do not appreciate the odds and ends 
of food. There are not a few spendthrift house- 
keepers, who never trouble themselves about a 
stale loaf of bread, clean and sweet pieces of meat, 
except to consign them to "the waste," but who 
must have whole and new materials to start each 
meal. Others are content with an unsightly dish, 
rather than exercise their taste and ingenuity in 
making a handsome breakfast dish from homely 
pieces of food. A sensitive and delicate stomach 
is often affected through the day when disappointed 
of breakfast by an unsightly dish, — out of all 
order and shape, — served on the same dish on 
which served before, — a dish of ragged butter 
and broken bread, that had been handled at a pre- 
vious meal ; and for the final dish muddy and 
unsettled coffee. Such a breakfast is anything but 
appetizing, and to some persons absolutely sick- 



214 ^VHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Yet there are those who can produce a handsome 
breakfast from the fragments left from dinner the 
jDrevious day. This economy is practised quite as 
often in homes where economy is not a matter of 
necessity, as where it is necessary, and such break- 
fasts are just as appetizing as new food when 
gotten in a tasteful manner ; but when served in- 
differently are a sheer waste. 

There are various ways of reconstructing food 
to gladden the stomach, among which croquettes 
should hold a place, for they are practical and 
satisfactory. These little culinary productions can 
be made of fragments of cold chicken, turkey, 
lamb, veal, game, fish, potato, and rice. Cold 
veal and chicken are especially nice for croquettes. 
An economical t\nd tasty housekeeper can repro- 
duce, from uninviting fragments, a handsome 
breakfast dish of croquettes. 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BKEAKFASTS. 215 

BREAKFAST No. 92. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Veal Croquettes. Potato Croquettes. 



Graham Griddle Cakes. Stewed Prunes. 



Coffee. 

VEAL CROQUETTES. 
Divest of skin and gristle the remnants of cold 
roast or stewed veal. Chop them fine, adding a 
quarter as much bread crumbs as meat. Allow 
one beaten egg to two cupfuls of the mixture, to 
bind it together. If needed, add a very little 
milk, cream, or gravy to moisten it. When mixed, 
season to taste, mould into pear shape, roll in egg 
and cracker crumbs, and place in a buttered bake- 
pan. Bake each side a nice brown in the oven ; 
or put them into a frying basket and fvj in hot 
drippings, 

POTATO CROQUETTES. 
When you have prepared more mashed potato 
than is needed for dinner, it is very convenient to 
utilize it for breakfast in croquettes. Cut into 



216 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

squares, oblongs, or rounds, about three-quarters 
of an inch thick, or thick enouo:h to g-iye them the 
desired strength. Grease the bottom of a baking- 
pan with SAYeet drippings, and place them in the 
pan so they will not touch each other. Bake them 
a nice brown. Brushing them over with a beaten 
egg when they begin to brown, except on the bot- 
tom, improves their appearance ; or you can make 
into balls or rolls, and fry in boiling fat. These 
should be egged and crumbed. 

GRAHAM GRIDDLE CAKES. 
(See Breakfast No. 44.) 

STEWED PRUNES. 
(See Breakfast JsTo. 12. ) 



BREAKFAST No. 93. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Chicken Croquettes. Breakfast Twists. 



Green Corn Griddles. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 



CHICKEN CROQUETTES. 
Chicken croquettes are especially nice and deli= 
cate. They are prepared the same as veal cro= 
quettes in Breakfast No. 92. 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 217 

GREEN CORN GRIDDLES. 

Two cupfuls of finely-grated tender corn. 
Two cupfuls of sweet milk. 
Three eggs ; a saltspoonful of salt. 
One heaping teaspoonful of butter. 
Half a teaspoonful of soda. 
One teaspoonful of cream-tartar. 

Warm the milk, beat the eggs, cream the butter, 
and with the salt add to the corn. Mix soda and 
cream-tartar with half a cup of flour, and stir into 
the mixture. Lastly, stir in flour enough to make 
a griddle batter. Bake on griddle. 



BREAKFAST No. 94. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Turkey Croquettes. Fried Potatoes. 



Biscuit (light as a foam). Cranberry Sauce. 



Coffee. 

TURKEY CROQUETTES. 

Prepare them the same as chicken croquettes for 
Breakfast No. 93. Serve them in a heated dish 
garnished with parsley. 



218 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

FRIED POTATOES 
Are an agreeable companion to turkey croquettes. 
Slice raw potatoes a little thicker than for Saratoga 
potatoes. Soak them in cold water for half an 
hour, then drain and dry them in towels. When 
dry, put them into hot drippings, seasoned with a 
little of the turkey fat. Do not pack them to- 
gether, but have the slices separate. Fry them a 
light brown in a spider. Drain them from the fat, 
and serve hot. 



BREAKFAST No. 95. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Mutton or Venison Croquettes. 



Rice Croquettes. Currant Jelly. 



Raised Waffles. Coffee. 

VENISON OR MUTTON CROQUETTES. 
Mince fine remnants of mutton or venison. The 
lean only is used, throwing out all the skin and 
tough portions. Add one-eighth as much fine 
bread crumbs as there is meat, and one beaten 
esfof to bind the mixture too;ether. Add a tea- 
spoonful of currant jelly to a cupful of meat, which 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 219 

stir well into the mixture. If moisture is needed, 
use a little of the gravy or sweet milk. Make into 
rolls, and bake a nice brown. 

RICE CROQUETTES. 
(See Breakfast No. 25.) 

RAISED WAFFLES. 
(See Breakfast No. 21.) 



BREAKFAST No. 96. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Roast Beef Croquettes. Yeast Indian Cake. 



Sweet Pickled Plums. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

ROAST BEEF CROQUETTES. 
Great care should be taken to pick out all the 
gristle and skin from the beef. When chopped 
fine, add one-quarter as much of fine bread crumbs 
and a well beaten eo-s^. Work the mixture all 
together and form into rolls. Brown in the oven. 

YEAST INDIAN CAKE. 

To two cupfuls of Indian meal, two cupfuls of 
flour, one gill of yeast, one heaping tablespoonful 



220 -WTIAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

of sugar, one teaspoonful of salt, add warm water 
enouofh to make a thick batter. Else over nis^ht. 
Bake in shallow pans. 

SWEET PICKLED PLUMS. 

Prepare the same as spiced peaches in Breakfast 
Iso. 80. Use spices more or less, at your own 
discretion. 



BREAKFAST No. 97. 



Cracked Wheat. 
Fish Croquettes. Breakfast Puffs. 



Dressed Cucumbers. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

FISH CROQUETTES. 

Mince fine the fragments of boiled or baked 
fresh fish, from which the bones and skin have 
been removed. Take one-third as much mashed 
potato, a very, very little melted butter, a beaten 
egg^ or a part of one, according to the quantity of 
fish, and half a teaspoonful of corn starch. Mix 
these together and make into rolls, which roll in 
beaten e^'sr and bread crumbs. Heat them on a 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 221 

well-])uttered griddle, or fry them in hot drippings. 
Garnish with parsley. 

BREAKFAST PUFFS. 
(See Breakfast No. 28.) 



SAUSAGE. 

When made of harmless ingredients, those who 
have unimpaired digestion may occasionally in- 
dulge in sausage ; but as a frequent dish it is not 
to be recommended. To those who value their 
health, yet sometimes tolerate high relish, I would 
suggest sausage made at home under your own 
supervision ; for there are as many good reasons 
for home-made sausage as for home-made bread. 
If you buy your sausage, you know not what you 
eat. Perhaps tainted pork, so highly seasoned 
that you cannot tell of what kind of abomination 
they are made. Your organ of taste must be un- 
usually chemical if it can discover "the hidden 
secret " in this highly seasoned and disguised com- 
bination. 

Sausages made of veal, beef, or lamb, are much 
more wholesome than made of pork. Sausage- 
meat can easily be prepared by housekeepers, and 
it is just as satisfactory as when put into skins. 



222 TTHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 98. 

Oatmeal Mush. 
Sausage Cakes. Brown Bread Toast. 



Baked Potatoes. Apple Sauce. 



Coffee. 

SAUSAGE CAKES. 

Chop two pounds of lean beef or veal and a 
quarter of a pound of suet very fine. The com- 
mon fault is, the meat is not fine enough. If you 
have not a machine for chopping sausage-meat, 
you will find it more easily chopped, with an ordi- 
nary chopping-knife, when the meat is a little 
frozen. When chopped, season with pepper, salt, 
and sao^e, to vour taste. You can make it in 
small quantities and often, or in larger, and pack 
in a stone jar. When wanted for use, form into 
little flat round cakes, and bake in the oven on a 
tin, or heat in the spider the same as mince. The 
last method is usually satisfactory, and is quite as 
nice as when enclosed in a skin like commercial 
sausao;e ; besides, you have the satisfaction of 
knowing what you eat. 



CROQUETTE AND SAUSAGE BREAKFASTS. 223 

BREAKFAST No. 99. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Beefsteak Sausage. Yeast Muffins. 



Baked Potatoes. Apple Sauce. 



Coffee. 

This breakfast is nice enough for most palates, 
and when beautifully cooked, will disappear phan- 
tom-like. 

BEEFSTEAK SAUSAGE. 

Have beefsteak cut thin, very thin. Mix to- 
gether one teaspoonful of fine sage, one teaspoon- 
ful of salt, and a saltspoonful of pepper. Sprinkle 
this seasoning over both sides of the steak to your 
taste. Trim off the fat, and scatter a few pieces, 
shaved thin on the inside. Now roll the steaks 
very tight and tie them at each end and in the 
middle. Lay them on a trivet or stand fitted into 
a baking-pan. Have a hot oven, that the surface 
may soon sear and securely hold the juices. 
Bake twenty minutes. Remove the strings when 
served. 



SECTION xn. 

FKUIT CAKE BREAKFASTS. 



FRUIT CAKE BREAKFASTS. 227 



XII. 

FRUIT CAKE. 

A FEW dainty and delicious fruit-cake breakfasts 
are suggested for those who cannot relish hearty 
food for a summer breakfast. 



BREAKFAST No. 100. 



Whole Wheat and Milk. 



Apple Cake. Cafe au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

APPLE CAKE. 

Three cupful s of flour. 

One teaspoonfid of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

One cupful of nice Indian meal. 

Half a cupful of creamed butter. 

A teacupful of sugar. 

Two eofo^s. 

Two cupfuls of nicely soured milk. 

Two and a half cupfuls of finely chopped apples. 



228 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

]Mix salt and soda with the flour, per rule, in 
which make a hollow. Just moisten the Indian 
meal with boilino^ water. Beat butter and suo'ar 
together ; beat yolks of eggs to a froth ; beat 
whites of eggs till stiff; then beat both to- 
gether, and with the scalded meal, sugar, and 
eggs, pour into the hollow. Xow pour in the 
sour milk, and stir the mixture to a batter. Have 
the apples already chopped, which should be a nice 
sour, "and those that cook quickly. Stir them 
throughout the batter. Butter sheet or gem pans, 
and fill two-thirds full. Serve with butter. 

Obs. — The Indian meal makes the crust of the 
cake tender, but flour can be substituted, if pre- 
ferred. 



BREAKFAST No. 101. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Strawberry Short Cake. Cafe au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 



This is a delicious, delicate, and cooling summer 
breakfast. For directions, see strawberry short 



cake, in Breakfast Xo. 45. 



CAFE AU LAIT. 
(See Breakfast Xo. 37. ) 



rilUIT CAKE BREAKFASTS. 229 



BREAKFAST No. 102. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Cherry Short Cake. Cocoa au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 
CHERRY SHORT CAKE. 
This delicious cake, when made in perfection, 
can hardly be surpassed, and meets with an 
especially warm reception among the juveniles, 
w^ho always make a triumph over early rising 
when this cake is served for breakfast. To bedn 
with, you must not use an acid cherry, however 
ripe. Only very sweet and very ripe ones will 
answer for this cake. These too, must be of the 
very best quality. Make a short cake as for 
strawberry short cake in Breakfast No, 45. When 
the cake is baked, split and butter the inside of 
each half. Have the cherries stoned. Add them 
thickly and liberally to one half of the cake, 
sweeten to taste, and lay the other half on the 
top of the cherries. If you have two or more 
cakes, do not pile one on the other. Keep them 
separate, or they will be soggy. They look nicer 
when baked in Washington-pie plates, and cut pie 
fashion when served. 



230 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKTAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 103. 



Crushed Wheat. 



Peach Short Cake. Cafe au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

PEACH SHORT CAKE. 

This luscious cake makes a delicate and grateful 
summer breakfast, if the peaches are sound, ripe, 
and of the finest flavor. Never use an inferior 
peach for a short cake. Proceed as for strawberry 
short cake in Breakfast ^""0. 45. Peel, slice thinly, 
and sugar the peaches to taste. 



BREAKFAST No. 104. 



Crushed Wheat. 
Huckleberry Short Cake. Cafe au Lait. 



Ripe Fruit. 

See Breakfast Xo. 10 for huckleberry short 
cake. 



FEUIT CAKE BREAItFASTS. 231 

BREAKFAST No. 105. 

Hominy and Milk. 



Strawberry Muffins. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

STRAWBERRY MUFFINS. 
Four cupfuls of sifted flour. 
Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 
One teaspoonful of soda. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
A heaping tablespoonful of butter. 
An even tablespoonful of sugar. 
Three eggs. 
Two cupfuls of sweet milk. 

Add soda, cream-tartar, and salt to flour, per 
special rule. Cream the butter and beat the sugar 
to it. Beat the yolks of eggs to a foam. Make a 
hollow in the middle of flour. Drop the sugar, 
butter, yolks of eggs, and milk into it. Beat 
these ingredients to a batter. Lastly, add the 
whites, beaten to a stifl" froth. Bake immediately. 
When well done, split and butter each half. Fill 
each muffin liberally with strawberries. 



232 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKTAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 106. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Huckleberry Muffins. Cocoa. 



Ripe Fruit. 

HucklebeiTj muffins the same as for Breakfast 
j^o. 14. 



BREAKFAST No. 107. 

Cracked Wheat. 

Waffles. Strawberries. 

Coffee. 

WAFFLES. 

Fom' cupfuls of sifted flour. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

A heaping tablespoonful of butter. 

Three eofo^s. 

Two liberal cupfuls of sweet milk. 



FRUIT CAKE BREAKFASTS. 233 

Add soda, crsam-tartar, and salt to dry flour. 
Cream the butter ; beat the yolks of eggs ; with 
the milk pour lo the flour and mix to a batter. 
Lastly, stir in the whites of the eggs, beaten to a 
stifi" froth. Butter ths waffle-irons and fill three- 
quarters full. Bake an even brown. 



BREAKFAST No. 108. 

Cracked Wheat. 
Breakfast Buns Strawberries and Cream, 



Coffee. 

BREAKFAST BUNS. 

Three cnpMs of sweet milk. 

One cupful of sugar. 

One teaspoonful of salt» 

One cake of compressed yeast. 

Flour sufficient to make a stifi" batter. 

Let this rise all night. Early in the morning, 
soften a generous halt cupful of butter to a perfect 
cream; dissolve half a teaspoonful of soda, and 
beat both throuo^h the batter- Beat two esr^'s, 
yolks and whites separately; then to the batter 



234 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

add enough more flour to make a tender dough. 
When well kneaded, mould into buns, set them 
into a buttered biscuit-pan, and rise to a sponge 
like biscuit. If the sponge was very light, half 
or three-quarters of an hour in the morning will 
make them lio:ht enouo-h. Serve hot for break- 
fast. Charmingly nice. 



SECTioisr xm. 

ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 237 



XIII. 

ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 

Many old fashioned dishes, hygienic and palata- 
ble, are now contemptuously looked at and neg- 
lected. It is to be regretted that the simplicity of 
food is firettino^ unfashionable. Pro2:ress has taugfht 
us many new ideas about food, yet the devotion to 
many ancestral dishes is recommended as advan- 
tageous. These few resurrected ones are sterling, 
and by the sanction of them to our children, the 
vigor of our race can measurably be kept. 



BREAKFAST No. 109. 

Pan-dowdy and Cream. 
Boiled Eg-gs. Fried Scrapple. 



Coffee. 

PAN-DOWDY. 

This is a homely, yet hearty and palatable 
breakfast dish. Pare and quarter enough sour and 
juicy apples to nearly fill a deep earthen baking- 



238 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

dish, add to the apples half a cup of hot water and 
nearly a cup of molasses. Make a crust as for 
strawberry short cake m Breakfast Xo. 45. Eoll 
it out an inch thick and fit closely over the apples. 
Bake in a moderate oven as long as the crust will 
allow. When done, while warm, break the crust 
in pieces, which mix through the apple. For 
breakfast this must be baked the day previous. 
Serve with cream or milk. Delicious. 

SCRAPPLE. 

'Tis said this sterling dish came to America in 
the Mayflower, and for aught that is known might 
have been produced by Mrs. Eve. It is convenient, 
palatable and nourishing ; combining beef, beef 
tea and hasty pudding. 

Select such a piece of beef as you would for soups ; 
when boiled tender, remove the meat, put the hquor 
into an earthen vessel to let the fat rise and cool. 
Cut the meat from the bones, mince it fine and put 
it into the kettle with the hquor and a little of the 
cooled fat that was on the top of liquor. Add 
pepper and salt at discretion. When it boils, 
thicken with Indian meal as for hasty pudding. 
Simmer till thoroughly done. Be careful not to 
scorch it. When done, mould in brick loaf pans. 
When hardened, cut in slices nearly an inch thick 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 239 

and brown on griddle greased with some of the fat 
from the top of liquor. This can be kept on hand 
three or four days in cold weather. A nice dish 
for hearty boys and girls or any one else. 



BREAKFAST No. 110. 



stewed Beans. 
Johnny Cake. Baked Sweet Apples. 



Coffee. 

Beans are the richest of all vegetables in nour- 
ishing matter, except oats and cabbage. With a 
little fat and meat a high strengthening compound 
is obtained. '* The founders of New England ate 
bean porridge morning, noon and night, thanking 
their Heavenly Father for it each time." Ph3^siol- 
oofists consider it excellent food for those who have 
to make great use of their muscle, therefore it w^as 
w^ell adapted to their circumstances. There is yet 
a great demand for force and muscular strength, 
and those who are wise will perpetuate the 
muscle making " bean porridge" or stewed beans. 
With an Indian cake it furnishes a very acceptable 
and nourishing breakfast. 



240 WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

STEWED BEANS. 
The round or pea bean is the best and most deli- 
cate. Pick and wash a pint, or the quantity needed, 
of dried beans. Put them into a kettle with cold 
water. When they have stewed an hour, drain off 
this water and add fresh boiling water. Set them 
where they will simmer, adding more hot water 
when needed. Cook them indefinitely, till thor- 
oughly done ; otherwise they are indigestible and 
unwholesome like other underdone vegetables. 
When nearly done, add a few pieces of uncooked 
steak, roast beef or lamb, cut in squares about an 
inch in size, or a little beef gravy if you chance to 
have it, or a piece of butter. Add sugar and salt 
to your taste. Stewed beans should have plenty 
of juice and not dry like baked beans. In cold 
weather enough can be cooked to last two or three 
days, and the required complement for each meal 
reheated. 

JOHNNY CAKE. 
This cake was originally baked in front of an 
open fire on the hearth of an old-fiishioned fire- 
place. Fireplaces are now superceded by ranges 
and stoves, consequently, our Johnny cake has to 
be baked on the griddle or in the oven, and is not 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 241 

quite like its predecessors in flavor, yet it is a de- 
scendant. To make this cake, take 

Two cupfuls of Indian meal. 
A heaping teaspoonful of sugar. 
A saltspoonful of salt. 

Pour to these enough scalding water or scalded 
sweet milk to make a mixture thick enough to re- 
tain its form when moulded in the hand. Let this 
stand half an hour or more. Grease griddle with 
butter. Fit a cake half an inch thick to it. Smooth 
its surface. When nicely browned turn, but just 
before turning, place a bit of butter on the cake to 
keep it from scorching after turned. The heat 
must be moderate. When both sides are nicely 
browned, it can be transferred to a pan and a hot 
oven to finish its crispness, or it can be baked 
entirely in the oven. These are a delicious corn 
cake, when baked long enough to give them the de- 
sired crispy sweetness, and are irresistible to the 
lovers of crust, and crisp Indian cake. Serve hot. 



24.2 \YTL AT TO GET FOE BREAKTAST. 



BREAKFAST No. 111. 



stewed Peas. 
Mutton Chops. Corn Meal Griddles. 



Coffee. 

STEWED PEAS. 

In nourishment, peas are of about the same value 
as beans. They are not quite as rich in albumen, 
but contain more starch. Stewed peas, when well 
cooked, is a dish of great nourishing excellence. 
The natural flavor of peas is delicious, and to many 
more palatable than beans. They should be cooked 
slowly in a plenty of water till done. When nearly 
done, add a few pieces of roast beef or mutton 
bones to flavor them. They should be cooked 
previously, and reheated for breakfast. 

CORN MEAL GRIDDLES. 

One pint of Indian meal. 

A heaping teaspoonful of butter. 

A pinch of salt. 

A teaspoonful of sugar. 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 243 

Pour boiling water slowly upon this mixture, 
stirring till all is moistened, when leave it to swell 
half an hour. When cool enough, break into it 
three unbeaten eggs, adding two tablespoonfuls of 
cold milk. Beat these well into the dough. Test 
the batter on the griddle, and add a little cold 
milk from time to time, till the batter is the right 
thickness to bake and turn conveniently. Bake 
both sides a nice brown. Serve hot, and well but- 
tered. Griddle cakes are descendants of the an- 
cestral flapjacks. 



BREAKFAST No. 112. 

Beefsteak a la Frying Pan. 
Fried Hasty Pudding Balls. Baked Sweet Apples. 



Cafe au Lait. 

BEEFSTEAK A LA FRYING PAN. 

See Breakfast Xo. 9. Make a gravy by pour- 
ing half a cup of hot water to the pan in which 
the steak was cooked, and adding a thickening 
made of half a teaspoonfid of flour and a table- 
spoonful of butter. Let these come to a boil, 
which pour over the steak and serve. 



244 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

FRIED HASTY PUDDING BALLS. 
Make yonr hasty pudding per rule in Breakfast 
Xo. 4. When cooked, and while hot, stir one 
heaping teaspoonful of butter into four cupfuls of 
hasty pudding. Stir one well-beaten egg into the 
mixture, when cool enough not to curdle the egg. 
Vrhen nicely mixed, make into balls about tv\^o 
and a half inches in circumference, by rolling them 
in flour on the moulding board. Fry them in hot 
drippings like doughnuts. Serve hot. 



BREAKFAST No. 113. 

Indian Suet Cake. 
Baked Apple Sauce. Coffee, 

Hot beef suet in some form was once a favorite 
remedy for consumption. For wasting diseases it 
was prescribed as we now prescribe cod liver oil. 
Suet cake was an excellent conveyance for getting 
this fat into the system, when in need of this ele- 
ment. When the theniiometer readings are low, 
then is the time to venture a delicious suet cake. 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 245 

INDIAN SUET CAKE. 
Two ciipfuls of Indian meal. 
One cupful of flour. 
One teaspoonful of soda. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Three eggs. 
Half a cupful of sugar. 
Two cupfuls of rich sour milk. 
One cupful of finely chopped suet. 

Add salt and soda to the dry meal and flour. 
Beat the sugar and yolks of eggs together. Add 
these wdth the milk to the meal and stir to a batter. 
Stir in the suet, and lastly the whites of eggs 
beaten till stiff. Bake in well buttered Washing- 
ton pie plates or shallow cake pans. When baked, 
draw a sharp knife through the upper crust only, in 
the shape you like. Serve hot. This mixture can 
be baked in muffin or gem pans. 

BAKED APPLE SAUCE. 
(See Breakfast No. 2.) 



246 T^'HAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 114. 

Minced Calf's Head and Pluck. 



Rye Muffins. Coffee. 

MINCED CALF'S HEAD AND PLUCK. 

What remains from dinner makes a i ice mince for 
breakfast. Choj^ together the diflerent parts, and 
heat in just enough of the liquor to moisten. Add 
sah and pepper to. taste. Serve hot. 



BREAKFAST No. 115. 

Rye Pancakes. 
Baked Apples. Cafe au Lait. 

RYE PANCAKES. 
One pint of rich sour milk, 
Or buttermilk. 
Three eggs. 

One teaspooniul of soda. 
One teaspoonful of salt. 
Two tablespoonfuls of molasses. 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 247 

Dissolve the soda in a little warm water and stir 
into the milk. Thoroughly beat the eggs, which 
add to the milk. Stir into the mixture rye meal 
enough to make a thick batter. In order that these 
famous pancakes be successfully made they must 
be thick enough to drop from the spoon, otherwise 
they will soak fat. They will be nearly round and 
not rough with irregular points if rightly thickened. 
Too many must not be put into the kettle at a time, 
as they rise a great deal and besides are in danger 
of cooling the temperature of the fat too much. 

Have ready a Scotch kettle of hot drippings. 
Dip your spoon into it each time you dip it into the 
batter, that it may slip quickly from the spoon. 
When the pancakes look done, try one with a knit- 
ting needle. If it comes out smoothly, they are 
done and should be taken out with a skimmer. 
They should be a nice brown outside, light and 
well done inside. Graham flour may be substituted 
for rye if preferred. 

RYE PANCAKES 
Are a breakfast of "ye olden times," and when in 
perfection are a satisfying winter breakfast. They 
are a breakfast of themselves, most people not 
requiring an accompaniment. Their satisfying 
virtues are still kept in mind by many families. 



248 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Should this fare prove msufficient at any time, our 
popular modern preludes, oatmeal or cracked wheat 
can be introduced. 



BREAKFAST No. 116. 

[An Ancestral Thanksgiving Breakfast. 
Chicken Pie. 



Baked Potatoes. Coffee. 



Baked Sweet Apples. 



This popular and dainty ancestral thanksgiving 
breakfast still holds its place in many families. Its 
accompaniments are few, as it is a breakfast itself. 

CHICKEN PIE. 

For a pie boil the chickens in water enough to 
barely cover them. Skim them. When tender or 
done take them out into a platter and carve them 
the same as if to be served on the table. Eemove 
the skin if very thick. Have ready a deep baking 
dish, lined with a thick paste. Have the dish pro- 
portioned to the quantity of chicken you wish to 
use. Arrange thp chicken so that the same kind of 
pieces may not come out together, when served. 



ANCESTRAL B11EAKFA8TS. 249 



Sprinkle each layer with a little flour and salt. 
Fill the dish nearly full with the liquor in which the 
chickens were boiled, bat not so full as to be in 
danger of boiling over. Cover with an upper paste 
and close the edges very carefully. Bake nearly an 
hour, or till the crust is handsomely done. The 
crust for chicken pie should be twice as thick as 
for fruit pies. Use butter in the licpor if you 
prefer it, 

PASTE FOR CHICKEN PIE. 

One quart of flour. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One pint of sweet milk. 

One cupful of butter. 

Mix these ingredients the same as for short cake, 
avoiding too much flour. This makes a nice and 
tender paste. 



250 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 117. 

[Another traditional Tlianksgiving Breakfast. 
Fricassee Chicken. 



A Short Cake. Baked Potatoes. 



Cranberry Sauce. Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit, 

FRICASSEE CHICKEN. 
(See Breakfast Xo, 47.) 



SHORT CAKE. 

One quart of sifted "flour. 

Two teaspoonfuls of cream-tartar. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Three-quarters of a cupful of solid l3utter. 

One pint of sweet milk. 

Mix cream-tartar, soda and salt with the flour. 
Eub the butter into this mixture till the whole is 
like meal. "^Yhen well mixed, add the milk. Stir 
till light and exen. The quicker you work now 
the better. Have your board well sprinkled with 
fiour and instantly bring the dough together. 



ANCESTRAL BREAKFASTS. 251 

Divide this into so many parts as will be needed to 
fit your sheet pans when rolled half an inch thick. 
When evenly fitted to the pans, incise each cake 
with squares. Bake a nice brown. Break the 
cake in the incisions and serve hot. 



BREAKFAST No. 118. 

Milk Toast. 

Honey. Cafe au Lait. 

Ripe Fruit. 

HONEY. 

"My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; 
and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste." 
— Bible. 

" Hast thou found honey ? eat so much as is suf- 
ficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and 
vomit it." — Bible Hygiene. 

"It is not good to eat^oo 7nuc1i honey." — Bible 
Hygiene. 

Honey is a vegetable product. Pure and fresh 
honey, when eaten in moderate quantities, is whole- 
some. The comb is not easily digested. Old 
honey should be eschewed. — Modern Hygiene, 



252 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

BREAKFAST No. 119. 

[A Modern Thanksgiving Breakfast.] 
Chicken Pie. 



Baked Potatoes. Warm Biscuit. 



Apple Sauce. Coffee. 

CHICKEN PIE. 

Cook the chicken as for the ancestral chicken 
pie. When done, remove all the meat from the 
bones and flake it. Do not have it hke mince, hut 
in long, thin and manifest pieces. Line a hirge, 
deep soup plate with a thick paste, made per 
ancestral chicken pie rule. Fill the plate with 
chicken, sprinkle a little flour through it, adding 
butter, salt and some of the liquor in which it was 
boiled. Cover with a thick paste and bake a nice 
bro^Ti. Be sure you brown the under crust. 
Serve with a gravy made from the liquor in which 
the chickens were boiled. 



SECTION XIY. 

SUNDAY BREAKFASTS. 



SUNDAY BREAKFASTS. 255 



XIY. 

SUNDAY BREAKFASTS. 

In this nineteenth century Sabbath, the clers-y, 
teachers, also hearers, make heavy drafts on their 
brains, and keep the Sabbath at a high pressure. 
Unless their Sunday diet is nourishing and adapted 
to their individual wants, they fiiil to sustain the 
great Sabbath work which is before them. Relio-ion 
and Hygiene demand quietness and freedom from 
care on this day, therefore we should make all the 
necessary preparations on Saturday for Sunday's 
diet that can be made, keeping no one from church 
or depriving them from reasonable rest, — yet that 
the pressing necessities of a-modern Sabbath justify 
an easy, reasonable, nourishing, and warm break- 
fast, who can disallow ? 



256 WHAT TO GET FOE BREAKFAST. 

SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 1. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Beefsteak. Baked Potatoes. 



Biscuit [light as a foam). Coffee. 



Ripe Fruit. 

This nourishing and easily digested breakfast 
is often absohitely indispensable for clergymen, 
vocalists, and teachers. Many think it a task 
to broil a steak on Sunday morning, yet it does 
not appropriate any more time than many warmed 
over breakfasts. The cracked wheat and biscuit 
can be cooked on Saturday. If the biscuit are 
very light, ethereal, they are as nice, some say 
nicer, when re-heated, than new ones. 



SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 2. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Minced Fish and Potatoes. Brown Bread Toast. 



Sweet Pickles. Coffee. 

Ripe Fruit. 

MINCED FISH AND POTATOES. 
Minced fish and potatoes, accompanied with nice 
brown bread toast, is an easy and palatable break- 



SUNDAY BREAKFASTS. 257 

fast. Many housekeepers institute it for Sunday's 
breakfast, as it can be prepared on Saturday, and 
heated on Sunday morning. For directions, see 
Breakfast No. 78. 

BROWN BREAD TOAST. 

Instead of rye mix Graham meal with Indian for 
brown bread. It is thought quite like Boston 
brown bread, and makes superior toast. For 
brown bread toast, see Breakfast No. 80. 



SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 3. 

Oatmeal Mush. 



Fish Balls. Brown Bread. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit, 

FISH BALLS. 

These are a convenience for Sunday breakfasts 
and usually meet with appreciation. They can 
be prepared on Saturday and heated on Sunday 
morning, and with oatmeal for a prelude, make a 
very substantial breakfast for those who require 
one. 

BROWN BREAD. 

For Sunday's breakfast, use your own favorite 
brown br&.ad, or brown bread toast. 



258 VTKAT TO GET FOR BEEAKTAST, 



SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 4. 



Cracked Wheat. 



Boiled Eggs. Buttered Toast. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

This is a convenient and nourishing breakfast, 
and can be accomplished in very little time. 



SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 5. 

Cracked Wheat, irith Cream and Sugar. 



Cocoa or Cafe au Lait. 



This is a valuable and delicious breakfast, 
relished by many every morning. For delicate 
persons, cream is of especial value and is often 
digested more readily than milk. A dressing of 
cream and sugar add both to the flavor and nutritive 
qualities of cracked wheat. 



SXJNDAY BREAKFASTS. 259 



BAKED PORK AND BEANS. 

' Tis said that a distinguished American clergy- 
man declined preaching to roast beef and plum 
pudding on Sunday afternoons, — which strongly 
suggests a dull and stupid audience, — and under 
the influence of such an indigestible mixture, un- 
appreciated sermons. Might not the clergy as 
reasonably decline preaching to baked pork and 
beans on Sunday forenoons, for it is allowed that pork 
is the most indigestible of all meats, besides being 
unscriptural ? Just enough of easily digested food 
leaves all the faculties clear and energetic, there- 
fore may we not conclude that our conceptions are 
more or less influenced on the Sabbath by this 
indigestible breakfast? Do not lessons from ex- 
perience prove that an easy, nourishing, and readily 
digested breakfast is the right one for Sunday ? 



2 GO WHAT TO GET FOR BEEAKFAST. 

SUNDAY BREAKFAST No. 6. 

Cracked Wheat. 



Baked Beef and Beans. Brown Bread. 



Coffee. Ripe Fruit. 

CRACKED WHEAT. 
The reason for introducing cracked wheat as a 
prelude to the '' iiTesistible " baked beans, is to 
prevent their excessive use on Sunday morning. 
A hearty breakfast of baked beans produces drow- 
siness with many. Physiologically, beans are not 
brain-inspiring, but excellent for those workers 
who make great use of their muscles, while no 
article is equal to wheat cereals for the nourishment 
of the brain. TThy not institute a dish of cracked 
wheat for Sunday's breakfast, preparatory to beans ? 
With a dressing of sugar, cream, or milk, it is 
charmino;. It can be steamed on Saturday, and 
reheated on Sunday morning. 

BAKED BEEF AND BEANS. 
I am well aware that the devotees of baked pork 
and beans may feel a personal injury at the inno- 
vation made on their time-honored Sunday break- 
fast. I confess there is not a more convenient 
dish for Sunday's breakfast than baked pork and 



SUNDAY BREAKFASTS. 261 

beans ; for they can be cooked on Saturday and 
reheated on Sunday morning. Notwithstanding 
this, the unwholesomeness of pork should be a 
sufficient excuse for substituting another com- 
panion. Baked beef and beans are just as con- 
venient for Sunday's breakfast, and many think 
quite as savory. 

Instead of pork, select the same quantity of 
fresh beef, not deficient in fat, — more or less, as 
3^ou prefer. You will have to learn from experi- 
ence the quantity of beef that will render it most 
palatable. Prepare the same as pork and beans, not 
omitting the preservative element, salt. Try this. 

When corned beef is sweet and nice, some think 
it preferable to fresh beef ; but you incur a risk by 
using it, as sometimes it is kept too long before 
corned, and imparts an objectionable flavor to 
] jeans. 

BROWN BREAD. 

This accompaniment to baked beans is made 
absolutely necessary by the law of the palate. 

Two cupfuls of Indian meal. 

Two cupfuls of Graham meal. 

One teaspoonful of soda. 

One teaspoonful of salt. 

Half a cupful of molasses. 

Half a cake of compressed yeast. 



262 WHAT TO GET FOR BREAKFAST. 

Do not scald Indian meal if sweet and fresh. It 
wiU be lighter if not scalded. Thoroughly mingle 
the salt, soda, and dry meal. Pour the molasses 
into the middle of the meal. Mix with warm water 
to a smooth batter about as thick as Johnny cake. 
In the summer this should not be made over night, 
as it rises quicker than other bread. For Sunday 
morning, it can be raised Saturday forenoon and 
steamed in the afternoon. AVhen sufficiently light, 
put the mixture into a well-greased bread boiler. 
Do not quite fill it, but leave room for the meal to 
swell. Cover both boiler and steamer and boil 
steadily for four and a half hours. At the end 
of this time, take the boiler out of steamer, remove 
the lid, and set in a hot oven for half an hour, to 
dry off, and form a tender crust. To be nice it 
must be hot, and should be reheated on Sunday 
morning. 



INDEX. 



Page 

Eeasons for a good Breakfast 15 

What Animal Food to Eat . . . ... .18 

Fats 24 

Winter and Summer Breakfasts .... 25 
Genuine and Counterfeit Breakfasts ... 29 

Measures 37 

Soda and Sour Milk -.37 

Soda and Cream-Tartar . . . . . .39 

Home-made Yeast 40 

Breakfast Fares 42 



BREAD AND BREAKFAST CAKES. 



Buttered Toast 
Raised Biscuit 
Fried Hasty Pudding 
Raised Loaf Bread . 
Rye Muffins . 
Fried Hominy 
Squash Biscuit 
Indian Sponge Cake 
Huckleberry Short Cake 
Sally Lunn Cake . 
Short Cake Toast . 



Page 
56 
59 
63 
69 
74 
77 
78 
80 

, 81 
82 
84 



Huckleberry Muffins 
Parker House Biscuit 
Flour and Indian Waffles 
Corn Bread Loaf . 
Cream-tartar Biscuit 
Raised Waffles 
Country Griddle Cakes 
Rice Waffles . 
Graham Puffs 
Breakfast Puffs 
Raised Graham Muffins 



Page 

87 

89 

, 90 

96 

98 

100 

101 

108 

114 

115 

110 



264. 



IXDEX. 



BREAD AXD BEEAKFAST CAKES— (co?i). 



Graham Biscuit 

Cracked TMieat Griddles, 

Buckwheat Cakes . 

Corn Meal Sponge Cake, 
Xo. 2 . 

Cream Toast . 

Cora Meal Raised Muf- 
fins .... 

Sponge Corn Cake Muf- 
fins .... 

Toasted Crackers . 

Graham Meal Griddles . 

Strawberry Short Cake . 

Yeast Muffins . 

Twin Biscuit . 

Rice Griddle Cakes 



AGE 
118 


Hasty Pudding fried in 


119 


Crumbs 


121 


Bread-Crumb Griddles . 




Soda Muffins . 


132 


Breakfast Twists . 


135 


Cream Muffins 




Bread Muffins 


136 


Flannel Cakes 




iSTew- England Johnny 


138 


Cake .... 


140 


Brown Bread Brewis 


141 


Brown Bread Toast 


146 


Corn Meal Crumpets 


149 


East-wind Cake 


150 


Green Corn Griddles . 


153 


Yeast Indian Cake . 



Page 

156 
157 
171 
173 
178 
180 
181 

183 
191 
192 
193 
198 
217 
219 



CEREALS. 

Cracked Wheat . . 48 I Fried Cracked Wlieat . 68 

TThole Wheat . . 58 j Hominy .... 73 

Oatmeal Mush . . 66 I Fried Hominy . . 77 



BEEF BREAKFASTS. 



Beefsteak 

Sirloin Beefsteak 

Rump Beefsteak 

A Top Round Beefsteak, 

Beefsteak a la frying 

pan 
Oven-broiled Beefsteak 
Shi-edded Raw Beef 



. 50 


Delmonico's Beef Hash . 


96 


55 


Roast Beef Hash . 


97 


. 59 


Sliced Corned Beef . 


98 


:, 76 


Sliced Cold Roast Beef . 
Roast Beef and Barley 


99 


. 79 


Stew .... 


101 


. 88 


Fried Liver 


102 


. 91 


Frizzled Beef . 


203 



INDEX. 


205 


YENISON BREAKFASTS. 




Page 




Page 


Venison Steak . . 107 


Venison Rolls 


110 


Venison Hash . . 109 






MUTTOISr AND LAMB BREAKFASTS. 




Broiled Mutton Chops . 113 


Lamb Fricassee 


120 


Broiled Lamb Chops . 115 


Sliced Cold Mutton or 




Fried Breaded Mutton 


Lamb . . . 


121 


Chops . . . .116 


Egged Mutton Hash 


123 


Oven-broiled Mutton 


Minced Mutton, Eggs, 




Chops . . . .118 


and Rice 


124 


Minced Lamb. . . 119 


Steamed Mutton Mince . 


125 



VEAL BREAKFASTS. 



Veal Fricassee 


,. 130 


Oven-broiled Veal Cutlets, 


136 


Veal Stew 


. 131 


Egged Veal Hash . 


138 


Veal Hash . 


. 133 


Sweetbread Fricassee 


139 


Scalloped Veal 


. 134 


Fricassee of Tripe . 


140 



DOMESTIC FOWL BREAKFASTS. 



Broiled Chickens . 


145 


Stewed Chicken . 


. 155 


Oven-broiled Chickens . 


147 


Turkey Hash . 


. 156 


Chicken Fricassee . 


148 


Warmed-over Turkey 


. 158 


Chicken warmed over . 


149 


Broiled Pigeons 


. 161 


Minced Chicken 


150 


Broiled Squabs 


. 162 


Chicken a la Cunard 








Steamer 


152 






Broiled Prairie Chicke^^s 





. 154 


Broiled Quails 


. 




. 159 


Oven-broiled Quails 


. 




. 160 



266 


INDEX. 




FISH 


BREAKFASTS. 










Page 


Claeified Deippixgs 


. 




165 


Ct.a-rified Beef Suei 






167 


The Peixcipees of Fetes'G Fish 


167 


Broiled SaliiioR Steaks 


. 169 


Broiled Salt Mackerel . 


183 


Canned Salmon with 


Fried Codfish Steaks 


184 


Cream Sauce 


. 170 


Fresh Fish Mince . 


185 


Fried Trout . 


. 171 


Fricassee of Tongues 




Fried Smelts . 


. 172 


and Sounds . 


186 


Broiled Halibut 


. 174 


Codfish a la Shaker 


187 


Halibut a la Creme 


. 175 


Codfish a la Shaker, with 




Fried Flounders 


. 176 


Dropped Eggs 


188 


Broiled Shad . 


. 177 


Minced Fish and Potatoes, 


189 


Little Pereli (fried) 


. 178' 


Baked Minced Fish and 




Turbot a la Creme . 


. 179 


Potatoes 


190 


Broiled Scrod . 


181 


Fish Balls 


191 


Broiled Fresli Mackerel 


182 


Broiled Salt Fish . 


192 


EGG 


BREAKFASTS. 




Eggs on Toast . 5 


1, 151 


Omelets .... 


203 


Boiled Eggs . . *i 


6, 197 


Plain Omelets 


204 


Scrambled Eggs 


. 199 


Bread Omelet . 


206 


Poached Eggs . 


200 


Corn Omelets . 


207 


Baked Eggs . 


201 


Baked Omelets 


_ 208 


Fried Eggs . . . 


202 


Excelsior Omelets . 


' 209 


CROQUETTE AX 


D SA 


USAGE BREAKFASTS. 


Pace Croquettes 


109 


Eoast Beef Croquettes . 


219 


Yeal Croquettes 


215 


Fish Croquettes 


220 


Potato Croquettes . 


215 


Sausage .... 


221 


Chicken Croquettes 


216 


Sausage Cakes 


222 


Turkey Croquettes . 


217 


Beefsteak Sausage . 


223 


Mutton and Yenison 








Croquettes . 


218 







INDEX. 



267 



VEGETABLES. 





Page 




Page 


Macaroni 


. 52 


Sliced Tomatoes . 


. 114 


Baked Potatoes 


. 59 


Broiled Tomatoes . 


. 117 


Tomato Sauce 


. 64 


Water-cress Salad . 


. 137 


Lyonnaise Potatoes 


74 


Creamed Potatoes . 


. 138 


Cucumbers 


80 


Saratoga Potatoes . 


. 154 


Corn Oysters . 


. 82 


Warmed-over Potatoes, 97, 158 


Fried Onions . 


. 85 


Dressed Lettuce and 


Sweet Pickled Beets 


86 


Celery 


. 170 


Green Corn . 


89 


Potato Croquettes . 


215 


Warmed-up Potatoes 


95 


Fried Potatoes 


. 218 


Cabbage Salad 


98 


Baked Sweet Potatoes 


. 138 


Canned Corn Oysters 


99 
FRU 


ITS. 


- 


Baked Apple Sauce 


56 


Oatmeal Jelly 


125 


Ripe Fruit 


65 


Sliced Oranges 


133 


Dried Apple Sauce 


68 


Cranberry Sauce . 


156 


Grapes . . . . 


75 


Cranberry Jelly 


161 


Baked Sweet Apples 


75 


Currant Jelly . 


162 


Strawberries . 


77 


Watermelons . 


174 


Stewed Prunes 


85 


Spiced Peaches 


192 


Fried Apples . 


102 


Sweet Pickled Plums 


220 


BREA] 


KFAS 


T DRINKS. 




Coffee . . . . 


52 


Coffee au lait . • . 


130 


Cocoa . . • . 


■57 


Cocoa au lait . 


201 


Tea. . . 


91 







268 



IXDEX. 



FRUIT CAKE 




Page 


Huckleberry Short Cake 


81 


Huckleberry Muffins 


87 


Apple Cake . 


227 


Strawberiy Cake . 


228 


Cherry Short Cake . 


229 


ATs^CESTRAL 


Pandowdy and Cream 


237 


Fried Scrapple 


238 


Johnny Cake . 


240 


Stewed Beans . 


240 


Stewed Peas , 


242 


Corn-meal Griddles 


242 


Beefsteak and Friec 


L 


Hastv Pudding Balls 


243 



BREAKFASTS. 

Peach Short Cake . 
Strawberry Muffins 
"Waffles and Strawberries, 
Buns. Strawberries, and 
Cream . . . . 



Page 
230 
281 
232 

233 



BREAKFASTS. 



and 



Indian Suet Cake 

Baked Apples 
Minced Calf's Head and 

Pluck .... 
Eye Pancakes . 
Ancestral Thanksgiving 

Breakfast . . 248, 250 
Milk Toast and Honey . 251 



245 

246 

246 



A MODEEX THAXKSGITIXGr BREAKFAST . . 252 
SUNDAY BPvE.lKFASTS 255-262 





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